From beloved teacher and bestselling author Dallas Willard, an exploration of Psalm 23 and the secret of living a life of contentment, peace, and security.

Psalm 23 begins with an astounding assertion: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." This describes the life that we all desire, one where we lack nothing. But how do we get there? How do we live so that we not only do "not want" but "fear no evil?" In this revelatory and profoundly pastoral new book, the late Dallas Willard shows us how by unpacking the 23rd Psalm to reveal what the apostle Paul and the psalmist before him knew: the secret of being content in any and every situation.

Life Without Lack introduces readers to God in a new way, demonstrating how to enjoy his presence as never before and how to be utterly caught up in his abundant generosity. The more we practice living in that presence, the more we experience the kind of peace, patience, kindness, and freedom from worry that is promised in the psalm. Based on a series of talks by the late author and edited by his friend and colleague, Larry Burtoft, and by his daughter, Rebecca Willard Heatley, Life Without Lack will forever change the way you understand and apply the most well-known passage in all of Scripture.

A gift edition of Daily Prayer For All Seasons, with a bonded leather cover, two ribbon bookmarks, gilded edges, a presentation page, and shrink-wrapped in gift box. People in all kinds of religious traditions, including Judaism and Christianity, have been marking time with prayer for almost as long as we've divided the day into hours. "Praying the hours," as it's called, has always reminded us that God walks with us throughout each day; "praying the hours" is also a way that the community of faith comes together, whether we're united all in one place or scattered like raindrops. In the Episcopal Church, the Book of Common Prayer offers beautiful services for morning, noon, evening, and nighttime in a section called "The Daily Office" (pp 35-146). Daily Prayer for All Seasons offers a variation on that theme, where a complete service covers one or two pages, thereby eliminating the need to shuffle prayer books and hymnals. Daily Prayer for All Seasons works for individuals, small groups, and/or congregations. This prayer book presents a variety of images of God, uses inclusive and expansive language for and about God, and presents a rich variety of language, including poetry, meditation, and prayers from the broader community of faith.

William Law is best remembered today for his Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. To those interested in his spirituality, however, other works have greater impact, in particular The Spirit of Prayer and The Spirit of Love, which are considered the finest and most appealing. In the years in which they were written, his vision had reached its fullest and most characteristic development, and his literary power was at its height. It is in these books that the profound influence of Jacob Boehme can be most clearly seen. His great synthesis of the mystical outpourings and orthodox Christian theology, provide an English spiritual classic. Law's understanding and interpretation of mysticism was more original than traditional, being dynamic and creative. He believed in the life of God working from within, and the flame of divine love being a link with and an understanding of God. He conceived that mysticism was a matter of life, that relied on willing rather than knowing, and that ultimately rested on trust in God. Despite holding no official position he was widely regarded in his own time and later as a spiritual guide, and his trilogy The Spirit of Prayer, The Spirit of Love and The Way to Divine Knowledge was the mature expression of his theology and religion.

Spiritually hungry readers who want to breakthrough to a deeper experience of prayer and want practical help for Lent need look no further than to Martin Smith's "A Season for the Spirit. " Originally commissioned by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1991, "A Season for the Spirit "provides forty daily meditations for Lent, leading us on a journey of discovery in which we find that Christ, through the Spirit, embraces every aspect of our humanity. Each meditation concludes with a prayer and passage of scripture or quotation for further reflection and study. While it aims to assist a daily practice of personal prayer, it is also widely used by groups who pledge to meet regularly so that members can share their thoughts, reactions, and spiritual experiences.

* Daily Lenten reflections with a novel approach * Color images enhance message of text Lent is often a season given to denial of physical pleasure and sensation, but we're already denied these by a cultural atmosphere saturated with visual images, noise and air pollution, violence, and processed foods that dull the senses. The physical senses play an integral role in the human capacity for emotion and feeling. Overstimulation in the physical senses gradually erodes one's ability to feel emotion. Yet empathy-emotional identification and connection with others-is crucial to liturgical engagement, especially in the highly dramatic practices of the signal events of the Christian Year. Sam Portaro proposes to restore our ability to participate emotionally in the Lenten journey by revisiting the five physical senses-one per week-in Lent. The discipline of a 40-day preparation for Easter suggests the importance the Church places on this seasonal retelling of the central acts of Christian redemption. Sense and Sensibility encourages the reader to renew a relationship with the physical senses that is a prerequisite to a deeply attuned engagement with the biblical stories read, taught, and liturgically re-enacted in the rites of Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter.

A glimpse into the ideals and insights that have shaped one of the Episcopal Church's most widely known parishes, St. Gregory of Nyssa in San Francisco. Rick Fabian, well known as one of the founding priests of St. Gregory of Nyssa in San Francisco, writes his "treatise in eleven parts" on the significant signs of communal life: the welcoming table, authority (human and biblical), baptism, mystery, marriage, children, the spirit, reconciliation, the worship year, beauty, and hospitality. This "revisionist approach to sacramental theology" offers a glimpse into the depth of thought behind the praxis that has shaped one of the Episcopal Church's most widely known parishes.

What does it mean for music to be considered local in contemporary Christian communities, and who shapes this meaning? Through what musical processes have religious beliefs and practices once 'foreign' become 'indigenous'? How does using indigenous musical practices aid in the growth of local Christian religious practices and beliefs? How are musical constructions of the local intertwined with regional, national or transnational religious influences and cosmopolitanisms? Making Congregational Music Local in Christian Communities Worldwide explores the ways that congregational music-making is integral to how communities around the world understand what it means to be 'local' and 'Christian'. Showing how locality is produced, negotiated, and performed through music-making, this book draws on case studies from every continent that integrate insights from anthropology, ethnomusicology, cultural geography, mission studies, and practical theology. Four sections explore a central aspect of the production of locality through congregational music-making, addressing the role of historical trends, cultural and political power, diverging values, and translocal influences in defining what it means to be 'local' and 'Christian'. This book contends that examining musical processes of localization can lead scholars to new understandings of the meaning and power of Christian belief and practice.

Winner - Edward Stanford Travel Memoir of the Year 2019.

Shortlisted - Rathbones Folio Prize, Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize, and Somerset Maugham Award 2019.

'An extraordinary travelogue, strange and brilliant' - i

In 2013 Guy Stagg walked from Canterbury to Jerusalem. Though a non-believer, he began the pilgrimage after suffering several years of mental illness, hoping the ritual would heal him. For ten months he hiked alone on ancient paths, crossing ten countries and more than 5,500 kilometres. Travelling without support, he had to rely each night on the charity of strangers.

The Crossway is an account of Stagg's extraordinary journey. It describes the dangers he faced on the road, captures the people he met and the landscapes he experienced, offers a unique insight into contemporary faith, and – most movingly – lays bare his struggle to escape the past and walk towards recovery.

It was a BBC Radio 4 'Book of the Week' on publication.

The issue of baptism has troubled Protestants for centuries. Should infants be baptized before their faith is conscious, or does God command the baptism of babies whose parents have been baptized? Popular New Testament scholar Scot McKnight makes a biblical case for infant baptism, exploring its history, meaning, and practice and showing that infant baptism is the most historic Christian way of forming children into the faith. He explains that the church's practice of infant baptism developed straight from the Bible and argues that it must begin with the family and then extend to the church. Baptism is not just an individual profession of faith: it takes a family and a church community to nurture a child into faith over time. McKnight explains infant baptism for readers coming from a tradition that baptizes adults only, and he counters criticisms that fail to consider the role of families in the formation of faith. The book includes a foreword by Todd Hunter and an afterword by Gerald McDermott.

An Anglican priest hands out brass knuckles to his congregation to guard his church from anti-Christmas fanatics. Fascists insist that the real Christmas is the Winter Solstice, while Communists stage atheist musicals outside of churches on Christmas Eve. Activists vandalize shops that set out holiday advertising in October and anti-consumerists sing parody carols in shopping malls. Is there such a thing as a War on Christmas? As Gerry Bowler demonstrates in this entertaining book, there is and always has been a War, or rather, several wars, on Christmas. Christmas, a global phenomenon adored by billions and a backbone of international trade, is the biggest single event on the planet. For Christians it is the second-most sacred date on the calendar. But whether one celebrates it or not, it engages billions of people who are caught up in its commercialism, music, sentiment, travel, and frenetic busyness. Since its controversial invention in the Roman Empire, Christmas has struggled with paganism, popular culture, fierce Christian opposition to its celebration, its abolition in Scotland and New England, and its neglect and near-death experience in the 1700s, only to be miraculously reinvented in the 1800s. The twentieth century saw it opposed by Bolsheviks, twisted by Hitler, and appropriated by every special interest group in the industrialized world. Lately it has been caught up in the cultural struggles between the left and the right in America, often misinterpreted as a war on Christmas, when the fight is really over whether religion in general will be allowed a public face. Gerry Bowler tells the fascinating story of the tug-of-war over Christmas, replete with cross-dressing priests, ranting Puritans, atheist witches, the League of the Militant Godless, aesthetic terrorists in Quebec and rap-singing Santa killers in Spain.

For Catholics, the family is recognized as the "domestic church," and it is in the family that people learn to recognize the love of God and to turn to Him in prayer. It is in the family that people first learn the virtues of living a God-centered life.
"Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers" contains prayers that have marked the joys, sorrows, and daily routines of many generations. Included in this volume are chapters on basic prayers, daily prayers, a useful calendar of saints, and blessings for all the seasons of the year. Also, included in this compendium are prayers to the Virgin Mary; the Liturgy of the Hours; prayers upon waking, at mealtime and before retiring for the night; prayers and blessings for feast days and holidays; prayers during times of anger, forgiveness, sickness, loss, grief, thanksgiving, conflict; as well as prayers for the Church and lay people alike.
A wonderful gift idea for people of all ages, this handsome book will inspire you and your loved one to enter more deeply into God's love.

As followers of Jesus, we have been ushered into a reality that rivals the plot of any story. We are leading ladies in a thrilling tale of epic proportions-a story that is vibrant, mysterious, and beautiful! The problem is that so often we get caught up in the complacency of life and forget that our stories are intricately intertwined with that of our Lord and Savior. In this study, readers will explore what happens after they receive Christ and what it means to truly dwell in Him. They will explore how Jesus is their intimate friend, how He calls them His beloved, and how He has made some fantastic promises to them. Most of all, they will see that their lives in Christ are never-ending stories that will continue to unfold throughout eternity.

Durante muchos anos Juntos para toda la vida ha respondido a una necesidad de lasparroquias y de parejas comprometidas. Despues de analizar las necesidades einquietudes de futuros esposos por mas de tres anos, esta quinta edicionconserva su formato original, pero incorpora reflexiones pedidas o sugeridaspor ellos mismos, incluyendo ademas un rico material catequetico. La nuevaversion contiene ademas los textos de la tercera edicion del Misal Romano. Sehan aprovechado las reflexiones de las anteriores versiones, si bien algunos de ellos hansido sustituidos por otros de mayor actualidad. Ofrece ademas todos los textosliturgicos necesarios para celebrar el Matrimonio dentro de la Misa, fuera deella o entre un catolico y una persona no bautizada.

This book sets a new agenda for mortuary archaeology. Applying explicit case studies based on a range of European sites (from Scandinavia to Britain, Southern France to the Black Sea), 'Mortuary Practices and Social Identities in the Middle Ages' fulfills the need for a volume that provides accessible material to students and engages with current debates in mortuary archaeology's methods and theories. The book builds upon Heinrich Harke's influential research on burial archaeology and early medieval migrations, focusing in particular on his ground-breaking work on the relationship between the theory and practice of burial archaeology. Using diverse archaeological and historical data, the essays explore how mortuary practices have served in the make-up and expression of medieval social identities. Themes explored include masculinity, kinship, ethnicity, migration, burial rites, genetics and the perception of landscape.

Leonard Ravenhill's call to revival is as timely now as it was when rst published over forty years ago. The message is fearless and often radical as he expounds on the disparity between the New Testament church and the church today. Why Revival Tarries contains the heart of his message. A.W. Tozer called Ravenhill "a man sent from God" who "appeared at a] critical moment in history," just as the Old Testament prophets did. Included are questions for group and individual study. Ravi Zacharias refers to this as "the book that shaped me...more dramatically than any other..."

Congregational Music, Conflict and Community is the first study of the music of the contemporary 'worship wars' - conflicts over church music that continue to animate and divide Protestants today - to be based on long-term in-person observation and interviews. It tells the story of the musical lives of three Canadian Mennonite congregations, who sang together despite their musical differences at the height of these debates in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Mennonites are among the most music-centered Christian groups in North America, and each congregation felt deeply about the music they chose as their own. The congregations studied span the spectrum from traditional to blended to contemporary worship styles, and from evangelical to liberal Protestant theologies. At their core, the book argues, worship wars are not fought in order to please congregants' musical tastes nor to satisfy the theological principles held by a denomination. Instead, the relationships and meanings shaped through individuals' experiences singing in the particular ways afforded by each style of worship are most profoundly at stake in the worship wars. As such, this book will be of keen interest to scholars working across the fields of religious studies and ethnomusicology.

The rise of early Christianity has been examined from a myriad of perspectives, but until recently ritual has been a neglected topic. Ritual and Christian Beginnings: A Socio-Cognitive Analysis argues that ritual theory is indispensable for the study of Christian beginnings. It also makes a strong case for the application of theories and insights from the Cognitive Science of Religion, a field that has established itself as a vigorous movement in Religious Studies over the past two decades. Risto Uro develops a 'socio-cognitive' approach to the study of early Christian rituals, seeking to integrate a social-level analysis with findings from the cognitive and evolutionary sciences. Ritual and Christian Beginnings provides an overview of how ritual has been approached in previous scholarship, including reasons for its neglect, and introduces the reader to the emerging fields of Ritual Studies and the Cognitive Science of Religion. In particular, it explores the ways in which cognitive theories of ritual can shed new light on issues discussed by early Christian scholars, and opens up new questions and avenues for further research. The socio-cognitive approach to ritual is applied to a number of test cases, including John the Baptist, the ritual healing practiced by Jesus and the early Christians, the social life of Pauline Christianity, and the development of early Christian baptismal practices. The analysis creates building blocks for a new account of Christian beginnings, highlighting the role of ritual innovation, cooperative signalling, and the importance of bodily actions for the generation and transmission of religious knowledge.