In a fascinating work of history, Jonathan Sumption brings alive the traditions of pilgrimage prevalent in Europe from the beginning of Christianity to the end of the fifteenth century. Vividly describing such major destinations as Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostela and Canterbury, he examines both major figures - popes, kings, queens, scholars, villains - and the common people of their day. With great sympathy he evokes their achievements and failures, and addresses the question of what motivated such extraordinary quests.

Edited by Ligon Duncan. True prayer comes from the heart, so why do we need a method? The great devotional commentator and pastor shows here that Christians benefit from discipline just as much as talking freely with God. You will discover the methods Jesus taught, look at styles of prayer and see helpful examples. Duncan has incorporated some of Henry's other work on prayer.

Praying God s Blessings on Your Grandchildren Whether they live a continent away or just down the street, your grandchildren need your prayers. By praying for them regularly, you can have an enormous influence on their spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. Even children who are reared in a Christian home need someone to pray for them, and who can do it better than a grandma? Grandma, I Need Your Prayers is an easy-to-use guide for prayer that will encourage you with practical help and motivate you with wonderful stories of answered prayers. It will show you how to pray strategically and specifically for grandchildren of any age. Topics include praying for: Their homes Their friends Their safety Their schools Their character development Their relationship with God Prodigal grandchildren Unborn grandchildren . . . and more Each chapter contains Bible passages and prayers related to the topic of the chapter so that you can begin praying for the needs of those you love. This book will help you give your grandchildren one of the most precious gifts they will ever receive--the legacy of a praying grandmother."

"Chicken Soup for the Soul: Christmas Magic "will warm readers' hearts and spread the wonder of the holiday season with its tales of love, joy, and awe. A fantastic holiday gift for the young and young at heart.
Christmas is a magical time of year -- a time of family, friends, and traditions. Readers will revel in the 101 holiday stories in "Chicken Soup for the Soul: " "Christmas Magic" that spread the special joy, wonder, and blessings of the season with its tales of finding the perfect Christmas tree, being with family, seeing the awe in a child's eyes, and enjoying the magic of the season.

In this volume, Gregg Allison offers an overview of specific doctrines and practices that unite and distinguish different churches and denominations as each finds its unique expression through churches' views of identity, leadership, church government, sacraments, ministries, and the future.

Our fast-paced lives are filled with distractions, frequently leaving us disillusioned and dissatisfied-with ourselves, with others, and even with God. Spiritual practices that used to sustain us fall short when life circumstances bring us to the limits of our self. After many years leading an international humanitarian organization, Phileena Heuertz experienced the deconstruction of her identity, worldview, and faith. Centering prayer, a Christian expression of mindfulness, was a crucial remedy for her fragmented condition, offering a more peace-filled and purposeful life. The hallmarks of contemplative spirituality-solitude, silence, and stillness-have never been more important for our society: In solitude, we develop the capacity to be present. In silence, we cultivate the ability to listen. In stillness, we acquire the skill of self-control. Contemplative prayer helps us discern the voice of God, uncover our true self, and live a life of meaning and purpose. Filled with insights and wisdom from personal experiences, Phileena introduces us to themes and teachers of contemplative spirituality, as well as several prayer practices, and invites us to greater healing and wholeness by learning to practice faith through prayer. This is an opportunity to go deeper with God-to experience the Divine and be transformed.

We work hard at life. We try to get better jobs, better homes, better relationships, and even a better spirituality. We are like Jacob in the Old Testament. His name means 'striver, schemer, supplanter, hustler.' He could have been the poster boy for the American Dream.But author Craig Barnes says this is not the way we should be living our lives. We should not try to manipulate and hustle ourselves into a place of advantage with God, a position that has been ours all along. After all, God is the one who climbed down the ladder to be with us. Using true anecdotes from the men, women, and families of the churches he has served, Barnes invites hard-running, stressed-out, burned-out people to stop striving. Life is not something we grasp and clutch to us, but a gift God freely gives. Only when we open our hands can God fill them with the blessings he has been waiting to lavish upon us all along.

Jesus once said, 'Whoever drinks of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty.' So why are Christians still thirsty? We throw ourselves into church work, Bible studies, prayer, missions, fellowship. Yet still we search restlessly for something more. What are we missing?Perhaps the answer is, more of Jesus. Church meetings and programs, ministry, Christian counseling, and home groups are all good, but they are not him. It doesn't matter how devoted we are to these wonderful activities; they are not the same thing as communion with Jesus. Our souls crave him alone.In Sacred Thirst, author and pastor Craig Barnes brings us face-to-face with our desperate longing for God. Like the woman at the well, we have tried to satisfy our parched souls with so many other things---even religious things. But when we get to the bottom of our desire, we find Jesus quietly waiting with his living water---intimatecommunion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.This book is filled with unique insights into human experience and the character of God. With his keen understanding of the needs of contemporary Christians, Barnes points to the only way our thirst will ever be satisfied. Drawing from his rich background in the Bible and his tender insights as a pastor, he leads us into a new understanding ofourselves and the uncontrollable but gracious God we seek.

This is a study of the social construction and the impression management of the public forms of worship of Catholicism and Anglicanism. Interest centres on the dilemmas of the liturgical actors in handling a transaction riddled with ambiguities and potential misunderstandings. Simmel, Berger and Goffman are used in an original manner to understand these rites which pose as much of a problem for sociology as for their practitioners.;These rites are treated as forms of play and hermeneutics is linked to a negative theology to understand their performative basis. The study is an effort to link sociology to theology in a way that serves to focus on an issue of social praxis.

This volume provides a theoretically and empirically-grounded study of the significance of landscape in the experience of Christian pilgrimage across different denominations and its intersection with cultural heritage and tourism. The book focuses on pilgrimages to Meteora (Greece), Subiaco (Italy) and the Isle of Man. These are each sites of scenic beauty that boast a rich heritage associated respectively to Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Ecumenical/ Protestant denominations. The study discusses different Christian theologies, practices and perspectives on the nature and the purpose of pilgrimage in these traditions. It draws on participant experiential accounts, archival research, and interviews with clergy, laity and local stakeholders. Special attention is paid to the themes of sacred space and practice, aesthetics, mobilities, embodiment and performance, emotional geographies, theology, cultural heritage, consumption and commodification, and the pilgrim-tourist continuum.

Ken Davis is a very funny guy. And as his friends and family will tell you, he's also a very wise one. After all, who but a wise guy would blow the toilet in his new home to smithereens with an M-80 firecracker? Or end up in a hotel lobby wearing nothing but strawberry underwear and the latest addition of USA Today? Only Ken Davis could pull these stranger than life stories together and use them to drive home insights that cut to the heart of Christ-like living. Because Ken, being Ken, knows what human fallibility is all about. He knows how tough we adults can be on ourselves. He knows how hard we try to appear more together than we really are. And to all of us, he offers two words of very solid wisdom: LIGHTEN UP! Ken's hilarious and touching stories underscore one simple, encouraging theme: God's grace is for you. You're not perfect, but you are perfectly loved by God. So take heart. God doesn't just love you, he enjoys you. No reason you shouldn't, too!

Explores the role of jazz celebrities like Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Mary Lou Williams as representatives of African American religion in the twentieth century Beginning in the 1920s, the Jazz Age propelled Black swing artists into national celebrity. Many took on the role of race representatives, and were able to leverage their popularity toward achieving social progress for other African Americans. In Lift Every Voice and Swing, Vaughn A. Booker argues that with the emergence of these popular jazz figures, who came from a culture shaped by Black Protestantism, religious authority for African Americans found a place and spokespeople outside of traditional Afro-Protestant institutions and religious life. Popular Black jazz professionals-such as Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Mary Lou Williams-inherited religious authority though they were not official religious leaders. Some of these artists put forward a religious culture in the mid-twentieth century by releasing religious recordings and putting on religious concerts, and their work came to be seen as integral to the Black religious ethos. Booker documents this transformative era in religious expression, in which jazz musicians embodied religious beliefs and practices that echoed and diverged from the predominant African American religious culture. He draws on the heretofore unexamined private religious writings of Duke Ellington and Mary Lou Williams, and showcases the careers of female jazz artists alongside those of men, expanding our understanding of African American religious expression and decentering the Black church as the sole concept for understanding Black Protestant religiosity. Featuring gorgeous prose and insightful research, Lift Every Voice and Swing will change the way we understand the connections between jazz music and faith.

Includes 19 ready-to-use sessions that can be tailored to a group's needs

Equipping your Messy team to pray and encourage others to do so, both within and outside the Messy Church context - Communicating prayer as a concept - Praying as a team in advance and on the day - Prayer ideas for the activity time, celebration time, and at home as a family - Ways of praying the Lord's Prayer - Ways to reimagine other traditional prayers - Creating a prayer space - A Messy Quiet Day outline

Turn Your Radio On tells the fascinating stories behind gospel music's most unforgettable songs, including 'Amazing Grace, ' 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic, ' 'He Touched Me, ' 'I'll Fly Away, ' 'Were You There?' and many more. These are the songs that have shaped our faith and brought us joy. You'll find out: What famous song traces back to a sailor's desperate prayer, What Bill Gaither tune was recorded by Elvis Presley in 1969 -- and won a Grammy, What song was born during a carriage ride through Washington, D.C., at the onset of the Civil War. Turn Your radio On is an inspiring journey through the songs that are part of the roots of our faith today

Prayer ministry offers us the opportunity to participate in the Holy Spirit's healing work. Jeannie Morgan draws on her wide experience to offer advice on getting started in prayer ministry, ministering healing from past hurts, and pastoral prayer ministry (over four to six sessions). With spiritual tools, Scriptures, and vivid stories and illustrations of healing, she prepares us to follow the Holy Spirit's prompting. Highly practical, she also addresses many tricky questions. The book includes guidance notes for leaders and special resources for those receiving extended prayer ministry.

Most of us realize that traffic laws exist to preserve our lives, not cramp them. Yet when it comes to moral laws, 66 percent of Americans believe there are no absolutes. Is it any wonder, then, that the highway of our postmodern culture is strewn with wrecks? Broken marriages, overcrowded prisons, murder in the classrooms, babies having babies - -they're what happen when we confuse liberty with ignoring the rules of the road. That's why Michael Moriarty is convinced that the Ten Commandments really are The Perfect 10. Behind them lie God's concern for our welfare and his understanding of the indelible truths that govern our world, our relationships, and our inner being. One by one, Moriarty reveals the Ten Commandments as the keys to wholeness and freedom and shows their far-reaching application for us today. For the Perfect 10 remain the ideal ethical compass. They help us align our lives with the character of God; and to a world hurtling blindly down the dead-end road or moral relativism, they point the way back to sanity, restoration, and life.

Rev. Beecher Hicks Jr. knows that great preaching and great storytelling go hand in hand. He believes in the power of imagination to teach us about God and about life, and he knows that nothing can spark the imagination like a story well told. In My Soul's Been Anchored, he presents vivid portrayals of the biblical truth shining through people he has known and experiences he has had. Family, friends, church members, neighbors. . .well-loved faces peer from these pages. In their warm humanity they illustrate simple, profound lessons that touch us all. You'll meet "Uncle Mugga," a woman poor in money but rich in love for neighborhood children. Reverend Jones, whose dentures flew out over the pupil in mid-prayer. Mother Jackson, everybody's mother at Second Baptist Church. Wilson McCray, who ran his shoes off praising God. Each person is a unique, creative snapshot -- sometimes funny, sometimes poignant -- of a living faith that helps us overcome obstacles, love God and each other more effectively, and make this world a better place. Dr. Hicks' stories read the way his sermons preach -- full of life, feeling, and beauty. My Soul's Been Anchored captures in print the oral tradition of the great African-American preachers -- the cadences, the rhythms, the passion, the urgency. And the vision. Dr. Hicks says, "This is a time to rise above our limitations and set our sights on those things that the world believes are beyond us." He encourages us to reach for purpose, to put our faith in motion, to never give up on our potential or God's promises. Here is storytelling at its finest from a gifted writer and preacher, with universal truths that speak to every culture.

Prayers & Promises for Women incorporates more than 70 themes that help you connect with your Creator in all the different areas of your life. This beautifully designed book gives you easy access to God's promises about faithfulness, trust, wisdom, worth, beauty, strength, and much more, with uplifting prayers and journaling space for deeper reflection. By staying connected to God, and believing the promises of his Word, you can live a fulfilling, blessed life in close relationship with your heavenly Father.

Edition and translation of Anglo-Saxon text, shedding light on Sunday observance and other issues. Few issues have had as far-reaching consequences as the development of the Christian holy day, Sunday. Every seven days, from the early middle ages, the Christian world has engaged in some kind of change in behaviour, ranging fromparticipation in a simple worship service to the cessation of every activity which could conceivably be construed as work. An important text associated with this process is the so-called Sunday Letter, fabricated as a letter from Christ which dropped out of heaven. In spite of its obviously spurious nature, it was widely read and copied, and translated into nearly every vernacular language. In particular, several, apparently independent, translations were made into Old English. Here, the six surviving Old English copies of the Sunday Letter are edited together for the first time. The Old English texts are accompanied by facing translations, with commentary and glossary, while the introduction examines the development of Sunday observance in the early middle ages and sets the texts in their historical, legal and theological contexts. The many Latin versions of the Sunday Letter arealso delineated, including a newly discovered and edited source for two of the Old English texts. DOROTHY HAINES gained her PhD from the University of Toronto, where she is currently an instructor of Old English.