An inclusive language version of the modern spiritual classic, an exquisitely beautiful meditation on the incarnation, on what it means to be fully human, and on finding the face of God hidden in our neighbors.

"Clarence Jordan spoke with an unwavering prophetic voice. He firmly rejected materialism, militarism, and racism as obstacles to authentic faith... He was a fearless and innovative defender of human rights." -President Jimmy Carter On 440 depleted acres in Sumter County, Georgia, a young Baptist preacher and farmer named Clarence Jordan gathered a few families and set out to show that Jesus intended more than spiritual fellowship. Like the first Christians, they would share their land, money, and possessions. Working together to rejuvenate the soil and the local economy, they would demonstrate racial and social justice with their lives. Black and white community members eating together at the same table scandalized local Christians, drew the ire of the KKK, and led to drive-by shootings, a firebombing, and an economic boycott. This bold experiment in nonviolence, economic justice, and sustainable agriculture was deeply rooted in Clarence Jordan's understanding of the person and teachings of Jesus, which stood in stark contrast to the hypocrisy of churches that blessed wars, justified wealth disparity, and enforced racial segregation. "You can't put Christianity into practice," Jordan wrote, "You can't make it work. As desperately as it is needed in this poor, broken world, it is not a philosophy of life to be 'tried.' Nor is it a social or ethical ideal which has tantalized humankind with the possibility of attainment. For Christianity is not a system you work - it is a Person who works you." This selection from his talks and writings introduces Clarence Jordan's radically biblical vision to a new generation of peacemakers, community builders, and activists.

Are you prepared for spiritual warfare? In his practical and straightforward style, Eddie Smith cuts throught the confusion and clutter often associated with the issue, showing what part you may have to play in the age-old conflict.

St. Augustine, Thomas Merton, Fredrick Buechner, Evelyn Underhill, A.W. Tozer, G.K. Chesterton, Thomas More, Martin Luther King, Jr., Amy Carmichael, Simone Weil, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Hildegard of Bingen, John Milton, Dorothy Day, Leo Tolstoy, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and more. . .

From nearly two thousand years of Christian writing comes Spiritual Classcs,fifty-two selections complete with a profile of each author, guided meditations for group and individual use, and reflections containing questions and exercises. Editors Richard Foster and Emilie Griffith offer their expertise by selecting inspirational writings and including their own commentary and recommendations for further guided reading and exploration.

The perfect Everyday-Carry Large Print Bible There are Bibles for your study, and Bibles you take with you. This is the latter. Designed with the everyday-carry lifestyle in mind, this durable buffalo leather NASB Thinline Large Print Bible is the ideal Bible for people on the go. The blue, genuine leather cover, raised spine hubs, art-gilt pages edges, gilt line, and perimeter stitching make this a rugged, handsome Bible skillfully crafted to keep up with your busy lifestyle. Universally recognized as the gold standard among word-for-word translations, the beloved New American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition, is now easier to read with Zondervan's exclusive NASB Comfort Print (R) typeface. Available in a variety of sophisticated designs, NASB Thinline Bibles give you the translation celebrated for faithfulness to the original biblical languages in a portable, easy-to-read format. Features: The full text of the New American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition Durable buffalo leather in blue with raised spine hubs Smyth-sewn and edge-lined construction for flexibility and durability Art-gilt page edges, with gilt line and perimeter stitching Two double-sided satin ribbon markers, each 3/8-inch wide Less than one inch thick Double-column format Presentation page Eight pages of full-color maps Words of Jesus in red Exclusive Zondervan NASB Comfort Print typeface 10.5-point print size

When you honor others, you honor God.

Trying harder doesn't always improve relationships or bring promotion. But choosing to live with honor will strengthen relationships, bring elevation, build bridges, and deepen our worship of and intimacy with God.

The blessing of honor is seen throughout Scripture, as those who remained honorable flourished, and those who did not suffered from tragedies, wars, and hardships. This book explains that when we honor family members, authority figures, the overlooked, colleagues, subordinates, and the like simply because they are God's creation, we honor God. And honoring God is an act of worship that leads to a deeper intimacy with Him. While some self-improvement and leadership books address the importance of respect, few explain the life-changing power of honor. Through biblical examples and personal stories, this book will help readers grow closer in their relationship with Jesus and truly appreciate the people around them as they learn to create a culture of honor in their lives, families, and ministries.

Do you long for a closer, deeper walk with God? Would you like to know more about what the Bible says about spiritual intimacy? We say we know about God's love in our heads, but has it really percolated through to our hearts? The Bible employs the metaphor of Christ, the Lover, and believers, his beloved. Yet this rich relationship potential is relatively unexplored in modern popular books, and we are the poorer for it. Using Song of Songs and other Bible sources, the author explores the dynamics of our relationship. We come to understand more fully what it is for Christ to love us and for us to love him. Contents Desire - You're the one I want Show me your face Jesus is not my boyfriend, but... Is the Song of Songs really about me and Jesus? Insecurity Delight Springtime Belonging Distance Christ finds us beautiful Christ gets crazy for love Finally, consummation Distant again Spiritual intimacy betrayed and lost through porn Porn-spoiled lives restored Reconciled Still beautiful to him Spirals of longing and love Conclusion: the power of spiritual marriage in the storms This portrayal of the living dynamics of a believer's relationship with Christ cannot fail to transform our devotional life profoundly.

Learn how God has set you up for a favored life with this companion study guide to The Power of Favor by #1 New York Times bestselling author and Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen.

In his book The Power of Favor, Joel Osteen shared that favor is something that God has put on you that will help you accomplish what you couldn't accomplish on your own. The psalmist said, "God's favor surrounds us like a shield." That means that everywhere you go, you have an advantage, a divine empowerment, and a key to open up the right doors.

Now, through this companion study guide, Joel wants to encourage you that you are weighed down with God's goodness. With encouraging scripture, practical exercises, and empowering insight, you will learn how reach new levels of fulfillment, new levels of increase, new levels of promotion, and new levels of victory. You have been called out, set apart, chosen to live a distinctively favored life.

A compilation of material from several writers with a strong emphasis on liturgies and resources for healing services. Includes a section on how to introduce healing services to those who may not be familiar with them and suggestions for starting group discussions about healing. The book is completed by a section of worship resources: prayers, responses, litanies, poems, meditations and blessings.

The Rule of St. Benedict (the rule) arose in an era when a great civilization was threatened by violence, economic forces that favored the wealthy, political leaders that lacked the trust of the public, and rampant xenophobia. The events that occurred in sixth-century Rome were much those like on the nightly news. Benedict was not a priest or religious official. He was just a young man disillusioned by a corrupt society that lacked compassion. He had a vision of a society in which human values reigned supreme; a vision of compassion, harmony, and hope. This is a book about living-not just surviving. It is a book about how to live a balanced, meaningful, and conscious life rooted in the ancient and time-tested wisdom of the rule. Valente's book reflects her training as a journalist. The narrative is engaging, conversational, and filled with anecdotes. It reflects the sensibility of someone who has struggled with balancing work and family with finding true meaning and happiness that is not dependent on externals. In 21 chapters, she explores the key elements of the rule and clearly demonstrates how incorporating this ancient wisdom can change the quality and texture of our lives. Included here are discussions of humility, waking up, silence, simplicity, trust, prayer, forgiveness, building consensus, listening, and living with awe. These fresh and profound explorations are inspiring, thoughtful, and motivational. This book is aimed at beginner and mature spiritual seekers alike. It should also appeal to non-traditionally spiritual people-the so-called "nones" (people who list "none of the above" as their formal religion), who are seeking a saner way to live in an increasingly violent, divided, and confusing world.

How do we learn life lessons from a grumpy penny-pincher so unpleasant that dogs run from him on sight? Does Scripture suggest we all have a touch of Scrooge in us? Can we all benefit from reexamining who we've become in our own life stories? Bestselling author Bob Welch invites us to discover these questions and more in 52 Little Lessons from A Christmas Carol. Join Welch as he takes you deeper into the nuances of this timeless story by Charles Dickens. From the stinginess of Scrooge to the innocence of Tiny Tim, the biblically based devotions in 52 Little Lessons from A Christmas Carol will inspire you to live for what really matters--not only at Christmas, but all year long. 52 Little Lessons from A Christmas Carol will help you get to know this holiday classic--and yourself--better. This devotional, much like the original novel, is tinted with a fair share of how-not-to-live lessons as well as how-to-live lessons, helping us see that we can learn from both, just like we do in scripture. As you enjoy A Christmas Carol in this brand new light, you'll learn that: Death is a comma, not a period It's never too late to change Generosity changes your perspective Life is best lived imaginatively With help from others, we can all become the best versions of ourselves In 52 Little Lessons from A Christmas Carol, discover why A Christmas Carol is more than just a holiday tradition--it's an exploration of charity, grief, and making the most of the lives that we're given.

From Genesis . . . "In the beginning, God created everything out of nothing." What do all the Bible stories actually mean? Will the Bible be too boring for me? Why is the Bible so long? Have you ever asked--or been too embarrassed to ask--any of these questions? This young reader's edition of The Whole Bible Story will help you understand what the stories in the Bible are actually all about and how every single one of them fits together to tell one big story about God and his love for people--including you! Along with the story of the Bible in words you can easily understand, in every chapter you will find great bonus material like exciting illustrations, fun facts and trivia about the Bible stories, simple lists of important characters and places, and easy-to-follow ways to apply the themes to your own life. After reading The Whole Bible Story, you will understand what's so exciting about the Bible and why God's Word matters to you! . . . to Revelation "God has all of history-- past, present, future-- in his hands."

A book of moral and religious reflections written by a Carolingian noblewoman for her teenage son in the middle of the 9th century. Intended as a guide to right conduct, the book was to be shared in time with William's younger brother. Dhuoda's situation was poignant. Her husband, Bernard, the count of Septimania, was away and she was separated from her children. William was being held by Charles the Bald as a guarantee of his father's loyalty, and the younger son's whereabouts were unknown. As war raged in the crumbling Carolingian Empire, the grieving mother, fearing for the spiritual and physical welfare of her absent sons, began in 841 to write her loving counsel in a handbook. Two years later she sent it to William. The book memorably expresses Dhuoda's maternal feelings, religious fervor and learning. In teaching her children how they might flourish in God's eyes, as well as humanity's, Dhuoda reveals the authority of Carolingian women in aristocratic households. She dwells on family relations, social order, the connection between religious and military responsibility, and, always, the central place of Christian devotion in a noble life. One of the few surviving texts written by a woman in the Middle Ages, Dhuoda's ""Liber manualis"" was available in only two faulty Latin manuscripts until a third, superior one was discovered in the 1950s. This English translation is based on the 1975 critical edition and French translation by Pierre Riche. Now available for the first time in paperback, it includes an afterword written by Carol Neel that takes into account recent scholarship and the 1991 revised edition of Riche's text.

In our frenzied culture, the possibility of living in balanced rhythms of work and rest often feels elusive. This rings especially true for pastors and leaders who carry the weight of nonstop responsibility. Most know they need rest but might be surprised to find within themselves a deep resistance to letting go and resting in God one day a week, let alone for longer seasons of sabbatical. The journey to a meaningful sabbath practice is slow and gradual, and it is a journey we need to take in community. Sharing her own story of practicing sabbath for the past twenty years, Ruth Haley Barton offers hard-won wisdom regarding the rhythms of sabbath, exploring both weekly sabbath keeping as well as extended periods of sabbatical time. Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest grounds us in God's intentions in giving us the gift of sabbath, providing practical steps for embedding sabbath rhythms in churches and organizations. Each chapter concludes with "What Your Soul Wants to Say to God," an opportunity to reflect and engage God around your own journey with the material. Sabbath is more than a practice-it is a way of life ordered around God's invitation to regular rhythms of work, rest, and replenishment that will sustain us for the long haul of life in leadership. Includes a conversation guide for small groups and communities.