The writers of the Bible speak to us with their words, and the Bible's characters speak to us with their lives. Their powerful examples reveal the spiritual inspiration and brilliant insight the human writers and the divine Writer intended. Times, cultures, traditions, and societal values may change from century to century, but human nature does not.

We value people whose words and actions reflect their true thoughts and intentions. People of integrity purposely integrate their own thoughts, words, and behaviors. They work at making their own hearts and minds, thoughts and ideas consistent with the godly character portrayed in Scripture.

These twenty-five Bible personalities in Choose Your Character cultivate a desire to deepen the commitment to live a life of unfailing integrity. Their examples teach us how to increase our personal satisfaction and effectiveness while strengthening our ability to influence others.

This comprehensive manual is aimed especially at oblates and associates of Benedictine communities, those who regularly spend retreats or quiet days in Benedictine centres and all those who want to order their life to be more in tune with Benedictine spirituality. The book contains: the text of the Rule of St Benedict; an introduction to the essentials of Benedictine spirituality; a simple daily office and other Benedictine prayers; a "who's who" introducing us to 100 Benedictine saints and followers; a guide to living the Rule in the world and community and a tour of the Benedictine family worldwide. Many notable authors have contributed to this volume which is designed to last a lifetime. They include Esther de Waal, Columba Stewart, Kathleen Norris and Patrick Barry.

What is the difference between an intellectual, factual knowledge of God and the actual change that occurs when you enter into an intimate relationship of love with Jesus?

Matthew Braden, a devoted servant of the Lord, explores that question in this heartfelt work, emphasizing that true faith means more than believing you are guaranteed a place in heaven. He illustrates that it is not enough to simply know all the right answers or to be born into a “Christian” home.

He looks back on how he lost his way after growing up in the church, giving in to “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). All the while, he would have claimed that he loved God. But time slowly uncovered the reality that his “Christian” life was just a veil for the sin that held him captive.

The author reveals how the Holy Spirit ignited his faith, challenging his heart with questions such as:

What does it really mean to love God?
What does true, saving faith in Jesus Christ look like?
How can you engage in authentic discipleship?

Matthew uses many thought provoking questions to challenge his readers to examine what they believe and how it affects the way they live. He also notes that choosing to put your faith in Jesus and surrender your will is not an intellectual determination—it is a decision of the heart.

Forget what you think you know, challenge what you have heard, and investigate the Word of God for yourself with the insights in Factual or Actual?

Just This is a collection of brief and evocative meditations and practices that invites us to cultivate the gift of waking up to the beauty of reality in all its glorious ordinariness. With his signature blend of contemplation, theology, and pastoral sensitivity, Fr Richard Rohr creates a spaciousness for the soul to grow into a kind of seeing that goes far beyond merely looking to recognising and thus appreciating. This is the heart of contemplation, the centerpiece of any inner dialogue that frees us from the traps of our perceptions and preoccupations. The contemplative mind does not tell us what to see; it teaches us how to see what we behold.

Will heaven be dream-like? Will heaven be boring? Follow Jesse, a 6-year-old boy, as he talks to his dad about what heaven will be like. Fresh metaphors and vivid illustrations guide kids and parents to a Biblical and beautiful theology of heaven.

Following Jesus can seem like an overwhelming task. Yet for all who believe, Jesus asks us to consider the cost and to follow Him. We all walk a unique road in life, yet God equips each of us to pursue Him despite the challenges that face us. Faith can grow stagnant and unsteady if we grow unaware and don’t continually tend to it. With the purpose of applying Scripture to everyday life and striving for unwavering faith, A Faith That Stands features twelve monthly themes, including forgiveness, perseverance, surrender, patience, trust, self-control, and many others. It also provides multigenerational insights from twelve authors in an extended family, making it a great resource as a personal or family daily devotional. This collection offers a broad, yet personal perspective on faith with practical life application questions at the end of each week. Designed for a variety of settings, its versatility makes it a great resource as a personal Bible study or small- group study with some friends.

Dr. Ronald D. Ramsey draws on his experiences as an organization development consultant, his knowledge of the behavioral sciences and theological studies, and his own unforgiveness challenges to lead readers on a forgiveness journey in this book. The book is composed of short readings that draw upon Dr. Ramsey's work as a counselor and chaplain; worksheets that engage the reader's experiences, thoughts and emotions; chapter summaries; and devotionals based on Scripture. Dr. Ramsey explores how to recover from experiencing interpersonal offenses and transgressions to reach emotional peace. Taking an interactive and practical approach, he reveals how to: - appreciate the importance of forgiveness; - acknowledge the hurt in your life from unforgiveness; - make a commitment to try to forgive; - transition to a Godly perspective; - take steps to sustain emotional freedom. The most difficult time to love others is when they have transgressed against us in some way. By learning a Christ-centered approach to forgiving others, we can move forward toward emotional peace. Take a journey from unforgiveness to emotional peace with the insights and biblical wisdom in Forty Days to Forgiveness.

Prayer is a vital part of the Christian walk; it's a must for success in the Christian journey.
The Bible is full of examples of how God answers prayer, and it also contains numerous calls for God's children to pray.

In Audacious Prayers, author Albert B. K. Appiah offers a handbook about prayer and what prayer can do in one's life, focusing on praying bold prayers and believing God to answer them. It is about petitioning God audaciously and expecting answers. Drawing on many examples from the Bible to underscore that God answers even the most daring of prayers, it shares powerful stories of Biblical characters who were delivered from pain and suffering by the hand of God.

Appiah weaves personal examples from his own life about some rather bold petitions God granted. He offers a living testimony of the goodness and graciousness of God, who will answer prayer if you dare enough to believe he can.

Today we are facing a global crisis when it comes to families. Marriages are under
more pressure than ever. Many children are growing up without experiencing the
security of their parents' love and commitment to each other-and consequently are
finding it harder to receive God's unconditional love. There is an urgent need to invest
in marriage and family life, for strong societies are built on strong families, and
strong families are built on strong marriages.

The Marriage Course, developed by Nicky and Sila Lee of Alpha, has been revised and
updated to provide practical tools to help couples at every stage of their relationship.

This update includes talks from experts including Dr. Gray Chapman, Dr. Henry Cloud,
and Dr. Sue Johnson on topics such as money, sex, love languages, healthy
boundaries, and building connections. The course will also cover how couples can:

• Better understand each other's needs
• Communicate more effectively
• Grow closer by learning methods to resolve conflicts
• Recover from the way they may have hurt each other
• Recognize how their upbringing has affected their relationship
• Improve relationships with parents and in-laws
  

"My Walks with Remi - Book Two" is the second book of devotions written by Cindy J. Anderson. Inspired by stunning color photos of nature taken during Cindy's walks with her Portuguese Water Dog, Remi, she invites her readers to see God's presence around them in a unique and thought-provoking way. The photos in each devotion will become visual cues for the reader in their everyday life to remind them of the life-lesson illustrated in each devotion. Walking with Remi amidst his beautiful surroundings in Southern California will help the reader experience God's artistry in the soaring mountains, the sparkling blue of the Pacific Ocean, and the vibrant light that shines on the American Riviera, which makes colors pop against the backdrop of the clear, azure-blue sky.
With Scripture that spans both the Old and New Testaments, the devotions are a witness to how God still speaks to us today. The Scripture verses, photos, reflections, prayers, and life application questions that accompany each devotion will uplift and encourage the reader and help them feel God's presence walking with them each day. "My Walks with Remi - Book Two" will delight the eyes and nourish the soul.

Dr. Ronald D. Ramsey draws on his experiences as an organization development consultant, his knowledge of the behavioral sciences and theological studies, and his own unforgiveness challenges to lead readers on a forgiveness journey in this book.
The book is composed of short readings that draw upon Dr. Ramsey's work as a counselor and chaplain; worksheets that engage the reader's experiences, thoughts and emotions; chapter summaries; and devotionals based on Scripture.
Dr. Ramsey explores how to recover from experiencing interpersonal offenses and transgressions to reach emotional peace. Taking an interactive and practical approach, he reveals how to:

A unique and validating look at the tension you feel between disillusionment and a desire for truth, Searching for Enough helps you see your doubt not as an emotion to fear but as an invitation to be followed. Do you ever find yourself thinking, "I'm not enough, and I'm never going to be. And I know I'm not supposed to say this, but God's not enough for me either." Whether or not we attend church, deep down we wonder if the biblical story of faith is really enough for the complexity of the world in which we live. We fill our lives with other things, hoping that maybe the next experience or accomplishment will complete us. Yet with every goal we reach, we still feel discouraged and anxious. In Searching for Enough, Pastor Tyler Staton draws on ancient and modern insights to introduce us, as if for the first time, to Jesus' disciple Thomas: history's most notorious skeptic. Like Thomas, we are caught between two unsatisfying stories: We want to believe in God but can't reconcile his presence with our circumstances and internal struggles. But what if there's a better story than shame? What if there's redemption so complete that there's nothing left to hide? What if there is a God who can heal your resentments, fears, and loneliness in such a profound way that you feel whole? From a place of spiritual companionship and deep authenticity, Tyler shows us that it is not an empty tomb that will change our lives, but the presence of the living God. Whether you are a distant skeptic, an involved doubter, or a busy but bored Christian, Searching for Enough invites you to find enough in a God who offers the only promises that never disappoint.

Divine healing is the essential marker of the global phenomenon of Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity. But although we know that healing is central in these movements, we know surprisingly little about how divine healing beliefs and practices reflect the interplay of local and global patterns of cultural development. The essays in this collection seek to discover what is the same and what is different about such beliefs and practices in diverse contexts, trace formal and informal lines of cultural influence across geographic and national boundaries, and ask how healing both reflects and contributes to larger processes of globalization. The collection will not only flesh out a picture of how and why spiritual healing is practiced in diverse cultural contexts and how healing practices reflect and shape the transnational spread of Christianity; it will also provide insight into the nature of globalization. The authors will attend to a wide range of issues, including the theological rationales for divine healing; the symbolic objects and ritual enactments employed; the cultural controversies surrounding these practices; the relationship between Christian healing and local or indigenous healing traditions; whether an emphasis on financial prosperity is always present; and the extent to which Pentecostal and charismatic churches are networked and the role of healing in such networks. All the essays are new to this volume.

God, God Almighty, God the Creator of the heavens and the earth, God the Beginning and the End, God the Source of all that is, God the Creator of man—the same God, in all His power and all His majesty, stops and listens when you pray. God has given humanity the ability to bring heaven to earth.

Whether you know it or not, you have the authority to change the world through prayer. When God said, “Let mankind rule over all the earth,” He was arranging the dominion of the world so that the partnership of mankind was essential for the accomplishment of His purposes. Through his unique perspective on this often-misunderstood subject, best-selling author Dr. Myles Munroe takes the mystery out of prayer, providing practical answers for difficult questions about communicating with God.

All that God is—and all that God has—may be received through prayer. Everything you need to fulfill your purpose on earth is available to you through prayer. The biblically based, time-tested principles in this book will ignite and transform the way you pray. Be prepared to enter into a new dimension of faith, a deeper revelation of God’s love, and a renewed understanding that your prayers can truly move the hand of God.

This expanded edition includes study questions for individual or small group use.

Die wêreld het meer sonneblommense nodig mense wat hulle koppe na die Son toe draai, mense wat meer en meer soos die Son wil wees eerder as giftige ivies, stink Afrikaners, stekelrige kaktusse, knieserige rosies of klaende hangkop wilgers.

Transformasie begin as ons ons deel begin doen en verantwoordelikheid aanvaar om ons negatiewe gedagtes elke dag bewustelik by die alomteenwoordige Son te vernuwe. Ons moet onsself daagliks toewy in die bestudering van die Meester Sonneblom se lieflike kwaliteite en meer van die vrug van sy liefdevolle genadige gees te kweek deur ons gedagtes by hom te vernuwe. Om ou negatiewe gewoontes en denke af te breek vra baie herhaling en volharding.

Kom ons maak dit ons doel om elke dag 'n rapsie meer na Jesus se voorbeeld van christenskap en menswees te lyk. Met hierdie 260 sonneblom dagstukkies nooi Susan jou uit na 'n avontuur van sonsoek al agter die Son aan.

Geniet die sonneblomreis.

This is a new edition of the one volume Butler. Drawn from the original twelve volume work known as Butler's Lives of the Saints, this new edition has selected one principal saint as the focus of attention for each day of the calendar year. And now, for the first time, many saints have been included who were canonised during the Pontificate of Pope John Paul II.