Do you walk along the safe and shallow shoreline? Or do you want to be in the deep waters where Jesus calls you? Reading this book and following the Spirit's direction, launch out into the deep and let down your net for a breaking catch Jesus calls, equips, and empowers you to be His daily disciple in ways greater than you can imagine

Foreword INDIES 2021 Finalist for Religion Religious faith reduces the risk of suicide for virtually every American demographic except one: LGBTQ people. Generations of LGBTQ people have been alienated or condemned by Christian communities. It's past time that Christians confronted the ongoing and devastating effects of this legacy. Many LGBTQ people face overwhelming challenges in navigating faith, gender, and sexuality. Christian communities that uphold the traditional sexual ethic often unwittingly make the path more difficult through unexamined attitudes and practices. Drawing on her sociological training and her leadership in the Side B/Revoice conversation, Bridget Eileen Rivera, who founded the popular website Meditations of a Traveling Nun, speaks to the pain of LGBTQ Christians and helps churches develop a better pastoral approach. Rivera calls to mind Jesus's woe to religious leaders: "They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them" (Matt. 23:4). Heavy Burdens provides an honest account of seven ways LGBTQ people experience discrimination in the church, helping Christians grapple with hard realities and empowering churches across the theological spectrum to navigate better paths forward.

Studies in neuroscience demonstrate that a focus on mindfulness meditation and contemplative spiritual practice has the capacity to increase our non-anxious awareness and significantly lower our stress. Not only is this finding of immediate importance for pastoral counselors and psychotherapists, it will even necessitate a paradigm shift in the way that pastoral and spiritual practitioners approach the general care of souls. The starting point for such a paradigm shift is an acknowledgement of the built-in negativity bias of the brain, and how certain beliefs and theological views may inadvertently reinforce the bias to the detriment of individuals and faith communities. Once necessary for human survival, the ingrained bias can often be excessive for today's world, resulting in negatively disproportionate assessments of life events and human relationships. To balance the neural predisposition toward negativity and anxious awareness, it is necessary for pastoral and spiritual caregivers, and those in their care, to cultivate a regular contemplative-meditational practice. The Power of Neuroplasticity for Pastoral and Spiritual Care focuses on the groundbreaking finding of contemporary neuroscience-that the brain is built for change across the entire lifespan. It is designed to make the research accessible to and relevant for those engaged in the work of pastoral and spiritual care in order to help clients and congregants effect lasting and transformative changes in the mind and brain. Through the regular practice of contemplative prayer and meditation, we can literally calm the stress region of the brain in order to live less anxiously and experience more fully the peace and joy of the present moment. The introduction of mindfulness- and acceptance-based counseling approaches will provide pastoral and spiritual practitioners with an important therapeutic framework to situate their work, from which they can make more informed and effective interventions geared toward using the mind to change the brain.

Marriages are in trouble today. That is clear. Effective mothods of combating this trend are less evident. Counselors, pastors and social workers need more than mere theories or mere moralizing. They need a practical and comprehensive model for understanding couples and their problems. They need a throughly Christian perspective that is biblical, compassionate and human. Everett Worthington provides this in an integrated, biblically based theory of marriage and marriage therapy with analysis at three levels: the individual, the couple and the family. The model he has constructed, with techniques drawn from the major psychological schools, is standard enough to guide counselors in actual interventions and powerful enough to produce change. A thoroughgoing overview of the assessment process includes practical, workable guidelines for: creating realistic, mutually-agreeable goals for counselor and clients; estimating the number of sessions needed to reach those goals; and planning the actual assessment, intervention and termination sessions. Next Worthington offers specific techniques for enhancing cooperative change, intimacy, communication, conflict resolution and forgiveness within the marriage. But keeping couples from slipping back into old patterns is one of the counselor's most difficult tasks. So Worthington concludes with suggestions for solidifying change and effectively concluding the counseling relationship. Here is a text that will be a standard for counselors, pastors and mental health professionals in the years to come.

This is an accessible resource for students and practitioners to become aware of the significance of self-knowledge for the provision of sensitive spiritual and pastoral care. The greatest asset which people in pastoral care offer to in a caring relationship is themselves or to be more precise the aspects of self which they have reflected upon. Offering oneself to other people in order to provide companionship along the road of life, especially when the particular stage on the journey is one of anticipated or actual loss, is an act which is both challenging and yet potentially life enhancing for a carer. The purpose of this book is to offer an aid to those who seek to understand themselves better with a view to enhancing the quality of spiritual and pastoral care they offer. Here the reference point for reflexivity is the caring relationship but as we are fundamentally the same beings in personal and professional relationships then perhaps readers may also find stimulus to reflect on what they bring to a variety of relationships including that with the Sacred and, indeed, themselves.

Connect your journey of discipleship with a passion for the world to meet Jesus Christ. For many followers of Jesus, discipleship means doing certain things to deepen our connection with Jesus Christ. But our spiritual growth checklists are often disconnected from the mission of reaching a lost world with the gospel message. Taking a holistic approach that unites evangelism and discipleship, Kevin and Sherry Harney demonstrate how God's plan for our spiritual growth is intimately connected to his mission to the world. Based on the teachings and reflection of their book, Organic Disciples, Kevin and Sherry will lead you and your group through the seven markers of spiritual maturity and how these biblical practices can connect us with God's work of reaching people with his love: Bible Engagement Passionate Prayer Wholehearted Worship Humble Service Joyful Generosity Consistent Community Organic Outreach True spiritual maturity will always lead believers outward to engage the world with the good news and truth of Jesus. You'll learn how to overcome the common roadblocks and false narratives that stand in the way of spiritual maturity and how to design a personal pathway of growth to be more like Jesus in character and mission. Used together with the Organic Disciples book and the free video study and online assessment available at OrganicOutreach.com, churches and individuals can better identify where they are in their growth journey and what the next steps are in becoming more like Jesus.

How do Christians grow? Few question the call of the Bible to grow in godliness, but the answer to exactly how this happens is often elusive.

In this book, Dane Ortlund points believers to Christ, making the case that sanctification does not happen by doing more or becoming better, but by going deeper into the wondrous gospel truths that washed over them when they were first united to him.

Drawing on wisdom from figures throughout church history, Ortlund encourages readers to fix their gaze on Jesus in the battle against sin, casting themselves upon his grace and living out their invincible identity in Christ.

The blessing of this book, "Man Up No Excuses - Do the Work " is how it provides a means to empower and equip young boys into the responsibility of young manhood. Uniquely written by a father, mentor, football coach and a police officer, one who has labored over 20 years shaping and molding young men's lives, making this book an extraordinary practical guide for self development. - Rev. Dr. Lloyd T. McGriff "Man Up No Excuses - Do the Work " can truly be a guiding light for all adults who really want to help young men develop positive action plans for the serious journey of life. Demitri asks the right questions and gives the right answers on survival in an unjust world and does so from the perspectives of a concerned father. "Man Up No Excuses - Do the Work " challenges the young reader to understand the impact and consequences of what he says and does in life. This book is a "must read" for everyone - Cubie A. Bragg, Ph.D., LICW, LPC Demitri C. Kornegay is a lieutenant with the Montgomery County Police Department in Montgomery County, Maryland. This is the third book for the 25 year veteran who graduated from the University of Richmond in 1979. He has tutored at the Richmond Penitentiary and for the Washington Urban League's "Operation Rescue" programs. An ordained Baptist Deacon, he developed and has run, "Men Under Construction" since 1992. As a high school football coach since 2000, he helped guide Maryland's 2005 AAA varsity champions to their first ever undefeated season. His motto is - "No Excuses - Do the Work "

The NKJV Foundation Study Bible is the perfect foundation for Bible study and the Christian life. Build your life on it! Now in easy-to-read large print.

Available for the first time in large Comfort Print, the beloved Foundation Study Bible is now more readable and helpful than ever! A rich resource for everyone longing to understand more of God's Word, whether you're a beginner or an experienced disciple, The Foundation Study Bible includes extensive study helps: verse-by-verse study and theological notes, full-color maps, a concordance, and cross-references. Featuring an easy-to-use layout that is concise and trustworthy, with straightforward and broad study notes that help you study God’s truth, the NKJV Foundation Study Bible is a great choice for any Bible student or church leader.

Intended for both beginning and experienced students of Scripture who want a Bible that contains the key features of a study Bible in a convenient and portable size, even in large print, the NKJV Foundation Study Bible is a solid foundation to build one’s faith upon.

Features include:

• Book introductions give brief background information for more context
• Concise study notes provide helpful comments on passages of Scripture
• Over 300 theological notes and index draw attention to important doctrinal themes
• End-of-page cross-references direct attention to other passages for further study of words and concepts in Scripture
• Concordance provides an alphabetical listing of important passages by key words
• Extensive study aids: book introductions, cross-references, Harmony of the Gospels, Prophecies of the Messiah Fulfilled, The Miracles of Jesus, and Prayers of the Bible
• Full-color Bible maps
• Words of Christ in red
• Clear and readable Comfort Print