While praying for his community on the Island of Iona, the Celtic monk St. Columba described his experience as a thin place- a location where heaven and earth seemed only thinly separated.In the same way, God's kingdom is being realized here on earth with stories of restoration and redemption. Our God moved into the neighborhood, seeking to invite us into his story of reconciliation, and commission us to missionally engage our neighborhoods with the good news of the kingdom.Joining the concepts of monasticism and mission, author Jon Huckins will walk you through six postures of missional formation: listening, submerging, inviting, contending, imagining, and entrusting. As you begin to employ these postures, become apprentices of Jesus who are committed to living in and experiencing the thin places.Through Thin Places, create a fertile soil to commune with God, live in deep community with others, and extend the good news of the kingdom in your local contexts.

Everyone has gifts and talents, but do you know what

gift is the foundation of your God-given purpose

in life?

In Know Your Ministry: Spiritual Gifts for Every

Believer, renowned Bible teacher Marilyn Hickey presents

an enlightening overview of the seven foundational gifts

of the Holy Spirit from Romans 12 and shows you how to

discover your specific foundational gift.

Through Marilyn's personal and ministry examples,

biblical illustrations, and practical application, you will

discover the one gift that you identify with most closely

and through which you will obtain the most success.

That gift whether it is prophecy, serving, teaching,

exhortation, giving, organization, or mercy is your

foundational gift.

Once you have identified your core gift, you will see how

it relates to your other abilities and how it flows throughout

all your spiritual activity in the body of Christ.

""'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my """house. Test me in this, ' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not"" """throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that""" """"you will not have room enough for it.'""""" -- Malachi 3:1 0
In these uncertain economic times, does it really make sense to tithe?
Douglas LeBlanc thinks the answer is clear enough in Malachi 3:10, where God goes so far as to tell us, "Test me in this." The people profiled in this book have done exactly that--and the effect on their lives has been dramatic.
In these intimate journalistic portraits, LeBlanc shows us true tithing in action. From members of the clergy, to best-selling authors, to social activists both conservative and liberal, these are the lives of real people who tithe in joy and plenty, in the face of poverty and natural disaster, in community and missionally, and as a spiritual practice commanded by God. They come from different backgrounds and live in varying degrees of financial comfort; but they all tithe--and wouldn't have it any other way. Through their eyes, we come to understand this ancient practice as God's call to a life of generosity, compassion, and joy.
"""""THE ANCIENT PRACTICES"""""
There is a hunger in every human heart for connection, primitive and raw, to God. To satisfy it, many are beginning to explore traditional spiritual disciplines used for centuries. . .everything from fixed-hour prayer to fasting to sincere observance of the Sabbath. Compelling and readable, the """"""Ancient Practices"""""" series is for every spiritual sojourner, for every Christian seeker who wants more.

This book is about the misguided obsession with the management of sin that cripples too many Christians. It's about the view that religion is all about sin...about how to hide side sin or how to stop sinning all together.
In the Introduction, the author toys good-naturedly with an agitated caller on his radio program, teasing him in a segment where he offers three free sins. The offer is real. Not that Steve has the power to forgive sins, but he wants to make the point that Jesus has made the offer to cover all of our sins - not just three.
Chapter one, " "titled "Teaching Frogs to Fly," is even better. The gist of this chapter is that you can't teach frogs to fly, just like you can't teach people not to sin. Steve tells a story about a guy who has a frog, and he's convinced he can teach the frog how to fly. The man keeps throwing the frog up in the air or up against walls - all to the poor frog's demise. The message is that even though people can be better, they can never not sin--just like a frog can never learn to fly, no matter how much pressure is put on it.
Steve continues" "through the book to show readers that while they can never manage sin, they can relax in knowing that they are completely forgiven--not just of three, but of all.