How well do you know the Holy Spirit? How real is He in your everyday life? In this new interactive guide to accompany God So Close, bestselling author and creator of the Midnight Mom Devotional community Becky Thompson invites you into a closer relationship with the Holy Spirit. In God So Close, Thompson wants to lead you into a deeper understanding of the Holy Spirit so you can have a closer connection with God, scripturally unpacking who He is and how He moves in and through the life of believers. Now in The God So Close Interactive Guidebook, you'll discover: 14 sessions that cover the entire God So Close book Additional scripture lessons and new stories Specific questions to help reflect on who the Holy Spirit is to you Designed for use by those looking for a more personal journey through God So Close Please note: This product is a companion to God So Close, for the most optimal experience it should be completed while reading the original book (purchased separately). Long gone are the days of believing that the Spirit of God only attends certain church services or speaks to or through particular people. The God So Close Interactive Guidebook will help you process his power and presence. It's for His glory that you've been given gifts to impact the world and reveal the message of Jesus.

"When Yahweh became a man, he was a homeless vagrant. He walked through Palestine proclaiming that a mysterious kingdom had arrived...He called people to follow him, and that meant walking."
-- Charles Foster
Humans are built to wander. History is crisscrossed by their tracks. Sometimes there are obvious reasons for it: to get better food for themselves or their animals; to escape weather, wars, or plague. But sometimes they go--at great expense and risk--in the name of God, seeking a place that feels sacred, that speaks to the heart.
God himself seems to have a bias toward the nomad. The road is a favored place -- a place of epiphany.
That's all very well if you are fit and free. But what if you are paralyzed by responsibility or disease? What if the only journey you can make is to the office, the school, or the bathroom?
Best-selling English author and adventurer Charles Foster has wandered quite a bit, and he knows what can be found (and lost) on a sacred journey. He knows that pilgrimage involves doing something with whatever faith you have. And faith, like muscle, likes being worked.
Exploring the history of pilgrimage across cultures and religions, Foster uses tales of his own travels to examine the idea of approaching each day as a pilgrimage, and he offers encouragement to anyone who wants to experience a sacred journey. The result is an intoxicating, highly readable blend of robust theology and lyrical anecdote -- an essential guidebook for every traveler in search of the truth about God, himself, and the world.
When Jesus said "Follow me," he meant us to hit the road with him. "The Sacred Journey" will show you how.
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.

Through the Eyes of Christmas: Keys to unlocking the spirit of Christmas in your heart by Ron Davis. How will you get into the Christmas spirit this year? Each December, most of us face that same question as we prepare to celebrate Christmas. Whether we will admit it to ourselves or not, we all yearn for true Christmas spirit in our hearts and homes each year. We want our Christmas to be one of peace on earth and goodwill towards men just as the angel announced to the shepherds. But after the shopping, wrapping, and relatives, often our Christmas experience is far from peaceful and there is little goodwill to go around. We pull out the same decorations, put up the same tree in the same corner, with the same wreath on the same front door. We do the same Christmas stuff in the same Christmas way as last year and wonder why we get the same result-no lasting Christmas joy. Is true Christmas spirit a myth? Or, have we become so preoccupied with the hustle and bustle of the season that we unwittingly buy the secularized version of Christmas? It is only then that we discover the substitute the retailers are selling has no real Christmas spirit. Our disappointment is that we do Christmas things but still fail to see Christmas spirit in our hearts. So how do you find Christmas spirit? What are the keys to unlocking Christmas spirit in our hearts? Pastors must ask those same questions as they prepare their Christmas sermons. Recent research tells us that 90% of Americans celebrate Christmas, but over half have forgotten why. A majority of Americans now celebrate Christmas as primarily a cultural holiday, rather than recognizing the real reason for the season. Less than half of the millennials surveyed said they were planning to attend religious services on Christmas. What are Pastors going to preach Christmas Sunday that is inspired and anointed? And after 2,000 years, what can they possibly say that is fresh, relevant, and will make a real difference in the lives of their parishioners? To avoid losing the real meaning of Christmas, Pastors need to remind their people of the true purpose the coming of Christmas has for our lives. They must rediscover the spirit of Christmas in their hearts. But how? Through the Eyes of Christmas reveals the keys to unlocking Christmas spirit in your heart. By looking deep into the lives of the first Christmas participants, the book refocuses our vision to see Christmas from a fresh perspective. What were Mary and Joseph focused on that first Christmas night? When we relive Christmas by looking through the eyes of Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men and all of the other well-known (and some not so well-known) characters of the Christmas story, we discover what they were focused on. We see the Biblical truths their stories reveal. That brings the true, lasting joy of Christmas spirit into our lives. When those truths are applied to your life, it will be said of you as it was of Charles Dicken's Ebenezer Scrooge, "...he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge." Order Ron Davis' compelling and well-written book Through the Eyes of Christmas now to make this Christmas your best Christmas ever!

There is a clear lack in the Church of England of a coherent and thought through treatment of evil and the devil within the texts which the Church of England traditionally identifies as the repositories of doctrine. Focusing on initiation, healing and deliverance liturgies within the church, "Fight Valiantly" seeks to rectify that deficit, considering the Church of England's liturgical practice in the parishes, and highlighting the present danger of worshippers receiving an inconsistent and potentially incoherent account of the relationship with evil.

A comprehensive analysis of the ritual dimensions of biblical mourning rites, this book also seeks to illuminate mourning's social dimensions through engagement with anthropological discussion of mourning, from Hertz and van Gennep to contemporaries such as Metcalf and Huntington and Bloch and Parry. The author identifies four types of biblical mourning, and argues that mourning the dead is paradigmatic. He investigates why mourning can occur among petitioners in a sanctuary setting even given mourning's death associations; why certain texts proscribe some mourning rites (laceration and shaving) but not others; and why the mixing of the rites of mourning and rejoicing, normally incompatible, occurs in the same ritual in several biblical texts.

That was the stunned reaction of Stan Telchin, a successful Jewish businessman, when his daughter said she had accepted Jesus as her Messiah. Her words were a bombshell. The family, their race, their heritage--everything that Stan treasured--felt shattered in an instant. With grim determination he set out to prove to his daughter just how wrong she was . . . with astonishing results. A true and powerful story that rings with the excitement of prophecy being fulfilled before our own eyes.

Hallelujah Finally the book you've been waiting for "Sound, Lighting & Video: A Resource for Worship" is the only book that tackles the integration and use of light, sound and video for houses or worship. Connect with more people in ways you never thought possible. Written by the managing editor of "Worship Arts & Technology Magazine" you'll learn how to:

* Integrate sound, lighting and video together from the ground up for easy application * Connect with more people in ways you've never imagined * Re-examine and re-incorporate your current media systems * Be up and running like the pros with this beginner-friendly guide * Solve your greatest technical problems efficiently, without the information overload * Better communicate your message using media solutions

* Integrate sound, lighting and video together from the ground up for easy application * Connect with more people in ways you've never imagined * Re-examine and re-incorporate your current media systems * Be up and running like the pros with this beginner-friendly guide * Solve your greatest technical problems efficiently, without the information overload * Better communicate your message using media solutions

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.

Reconciling Christians offers 40 biblically-based meditations, with questions for reflection, for use at weekly gatherings (6 weeks) or for everyday devotion during Lent.

The events surrounding the birth of Jesus are told with remarkable simplicity in the Bible, but they have too often been obscured by myths, mistletoe, and consumerism.

Now in paperback, "The First Christmas" separates fact from fiction, stripping away Yuletide folklore and questionable traditions to tell how it really was in the world of the Nativity. Delving into Jewish, Greek, Roman, and early Christian sources, Paul L. Maier uncovers fresh and fascinating insights into the true, yet unfamiliar, story of the first Christmas. A captivating combination of sacred and secular history, this informative and entertaining book answers many compelling questions, such as: Why did the Roman emperor Augustus order his famous census? What marriage customs applied to Mary and Joseph? When and where was Jesus born? Who were the Wise Men? What was the Star of Bethlehem?

This beautifully illustrated gift book by a best-selling author and church history expert offers a glimpse at the real, historical drama of Christmas.

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..."

Originally published in 1944, this book presents an examination of the relationship between Christian worship and daily life, putting forward the view that religious feeling should be integrated with the more secular aspects of human existence. Although written from a Quaker perspective, the text was intended to transcend denominational issues and address 'the world-wide fellowship of men and women who are one in the Body of Christ'. Notes are included throughout. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in theology and the history of Christianity.

How can the Body and Blood of Christ, without ever leaving heaven, come to be really present on eucharistic altars where the bread and wine still seem to be? Thirteenth and fourteenth century Christian Aristotelians thought the answer had to be "transubstantiation."
Acclaimed philosopher, Marilyn McCord Adams, investigates these later medieval theories of the Eucharist, concentrating on the writings of Thomas Aquinas, Giles of Rome, Duns Scotus, and William Ockham, with some reference to Peter Lombard, Hugh of St. Victor, and Bonaventure. She examines how their efforts to formulate and integrate this theological datum provoked them to make significant revisions in Aristotelian philosophical theories regarding the metaphysical structure and location of bodies, differences between substance and accidents, causality and causal powers, and fundamental types of change. Setting these developments in the theological context that gave rise to the question draws attention to their understandings of the sacraments and their purpose, as well as to their understandings of the nature and destiny of human beings.
Adams concludes that their philosophical modifications were mostly not ad hoc, but systematic revisions that made room for transubstantiation while allowing Aristotle still to describe what normally and naturally happens. By contrast, their picture of the world as it will be (after the last judgment) seems less well integrated with their sacramental theology and their understandings of human nature.

Get Your Foundation Right—Then Build Toward the Sky!

A building contractor has a top priority every time he begins a construction project: to get the foundation right. He knows that’s the key to the stability and endurance of the structure he is building. If his crew lays the foundation wrong, the rest of the building might ultimately look good—but it will always have problems and will possibly never fulfill its purpose for being constructed in the first place.

That same principle is true as you build your life in Christ. You will never build strong or last long in your quest to fulfill what God has put you on the earth to accomplish unless you first focus on laying your spiritual foundation on the rock-solid truths of His Word.

In this book, author Rick Renner provides the scriptural “mortar and brick” that defines the six fundamental doctrines listed in Hebrews 6:1,2—precisely the ingredients you need to lay a sound and stable foundation for the structure called your life in Christ.

Do you recognize a need to fortify your foundation? If so, you’re holding a mighty tool in your hands right now that will help you do just that. The rich truths found within these pages will strengthen your foundation so it can hold you steady and stable as your life grows into a mighty edifice that displays God’s glory and power—just as He has always intended!

First full-scale survey and examination of liturgical practice and its fundamental changes over four centuries. At the heart of life in any medieval Christian religious community was the communal recitation of the daily "hours of prayer" or Divine Office. This book draws on narrative, conciliar, and manuscript sources to reconstruct the history of how the Divine Office was sung in Anglo-Saxon minster churches from the coming of the first Roman missionaries in 597 to the height of the "monastic revival" in the tenth century. Going beyond both the hagiographic "Benedictine" assumptions of older scholarship and the cautious agnosticism of more recent historians of Anglo-Saxon Christianity, the author demonstrates that the early Anglo-Saxon Church followed a non-Benedictine "Roman" monasticliturgical tradition. Despite Viking depredations and native laxity, this tradition survived, enriched through contact with varied Continental liturgies, into the tenth century. Only then did a few advanced monastic reformers conclude, based on their study of ninth-century Frankish reforms fully explained for the first time in this book, that English monks and nuns ought to follow the liturgical prescriptions of the Rule of St Benedict to the letter. Fragmentary manuscript survivals reveal how monastic leaders such as Dunstan and AEthelwold variously adapted the native English liturgical tradition - or replaced it - to implement this forgotten central plank of the "Benedictine Reform". Jesse D. Billett is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Divinity, Trinity College, Toronto.

Christians who want to see Matthew's Gospel in a fresh and exciting way. Are you looking for a study to help you understand and use Matthew's Gospel? Will help individuals and groups to understand and use Matthew's Gospel in a small study or devotional setting. Journeying with Matthew' is a book to accompany the readings in year A of the Common Worship Lectionary. It aims to help individuals and groups to understand and use Matthew's Gospel.James Woodward is a Canon of Windsor, and the general editor of the book. He has written extensively in the area of pastoral and practical theology. His recent publications include Valuing Age (SPCK 2008).

Filled with fascinating observations and anecdotes about the nature of contemporary Spain, this intriguing account tells the story of Tony Kevin, an overweight 63-year-old former diplomat who set off on an eight-week trek across the country armed only with a small rucksack and a staff. Rich with the history, politics, and culture of the region, this travel narrative follows two of the many pilgrim trails that crisscross Spain and Portugal and lead to the cathedral city of Santiago de Compostela, Europe's most famous center of pilgrimage. By retelling Kevin's journey, it delves into what drives tens of thousands of people of all nationalities and creeds to make long, exhausting walks across the cold mountains and hot tablelands of Spain. Beautifully capturing the flavor of both the past and present experiences of walking the "camino," this chronicle depicts the concept of pilgrimage as not only having the potential to unlock hidden memory and conscience but also as a profound meditation on the nature of modern life. In addition to cultural and spiritual discussions, this diverse exploration also offers practical advice for would-be pilgrims--from packing and training to walking techniques and navigation. By addressing all of these aspects of the pilgrimage, this is the perfect book for religious pilgrims and armchair travelers alike.

The Philokalia is a collection of texts written between the fourth and fifteenth centuries by spiritual master of the Orthodox Christian tradition. First published in Greek in 1782, translated into Salvonic and later into Russian, The Philokalia has exercised an influence far greater than that of any book other than the Bible in the recent history of the Orthodox Church.

Why do pilgrims walk so much? What do they learn? What lasting good does it do? In Pilgrim Journeys, experienced pilgrim and writer Sally Welch explores the lesstravelled pilgrim routes of the UK and beyond, through the eyes of the pilgrims who walk them. Each chapter explores a different aspect of pilgrimage, offering reflections and indicating some of the spiritual lessons to be learned that may be practised at home. This absorbing book shows how insights gained on the journey can be incorporated into everyday life, bringing new ways of relationship with God and with our fellow Christians, offering support and encouragement as we face life's joys and challenges.

This is a collection of readings for individual or group reflection throughout the four weeks of Advent. This book does not advocate a 'cosy' view of Christmas but rather urges people to use this season to address some of the most important issues of our time. To do so the author makes creative use of quotes from the other sources, interspersed with her own perspective on the subjects under consideration.

An alarming number of Christians have been fed the

notion that our God is a mean and angry god. Nothing

could be further from the truth. In fact, Larry Huch suggests

that God's eyes are constantly searching "to and fro

throughout the whole earth" (2 Chronicles 16:9), looking

for someone to heal, someone to bless, someone to prosper,

and someone to favor.

In his new book, Unveiling Ancient Biblical Secrets, Huch

reveals God's ancient blessings for your life, such as:

the hundredfold breakthrough in the parable of the seed

the secret of prayer revealed in Jacob's ladder

the protective power of the mezuzah

Purim's miracle for turning your life story around

biblical faith for the last days

God's covenant of success

God's power multiplied in your life with the four cups of

Communion

By understanding and tapping into these timeless truths in

the Torah, Christians can rediscover the destiny that God

intends for His people. We were not meant to live lives

of empty religious ritua

In this fresh approach to Christian spirituality, John Driver shows that the spirituality of the disciples and the early Christian church included every dimension of life. Grounded in the example of Jesus himself, this holistic approach to spirituality finds expression in the visible witness of the Christian community, and in the daily lives of faithful Christians who seek to embody Christ's presence in the world in service to others. This approach to Christian spirituality was recovered in a remarkable way by the radical reformers of the sixteenth century - the Anabaptists - and it continues to find expression among a wide variety of Christian groups around the world today. Life Together in the Spirit will inspire, challenge, and encourage you to experience the presence of the Spirit in all of its dimensions. This edition, revised and expanded with responses and reflections from church leaders and scholars around the world, is the seventh publication in the "Global Anabaptist-Mennonite Shelf of Literature," an initiative of Mennonite World Conference. Contributors include Mvwala C. Katshinga (Democratic Republic of Congo), Christina Asheervadam (India), Rafael Zaracho (Paraguay), Hermann Woelke (Uruguay), Paulus Pan (Taiwan), Patricia Uruena (Colombia), and Nellie Mlotshwa (Zimbabwe).