One day Travis Scholl discovered a labyrinth in his neighborhood. As he began to walk it, he found this ancient practice offered a much-needed path away from life's demands, allowing him to encounter God in quiet solitude. In this meditative guide, Travis Scholl takes readers on a journey: "The path is always new, because, as a spiritual discipline, the labyrinth is a tool for contemplation, for reflection, for prayer. Underneath the surface, walking the labyrinth is a profound exercise in listening, in active silence, in finding movement and rhythm in the stillnesses underneath and in between every day's noise. Walking the labyrinth is an exercise in finding the voice speaking in whispers underneath the whirlwind of sound." With no end, but only a center, labyrinths become a physical symbol of prayer and our journey with God. Each step unites faith and action as travelers take one step at a time, living each moment in trust and willingness to follow the course set before them. Providing a historical and modern context for this unique spiritual discipline, Scholl weaves his own journey through a labyrinth with the Gospel of Mark's telling of the twists and turns of Jesus' life, providing 40 reflections ideal for daily reading during Lent or any time of the year.

There are some things we just don't talk about. Things like sex, particularly when our sexuality is a matter of personal struggle. Things like the vulnerabilities of our pastors, who must maintain a fa?ade not merely of respectability but of moral and psychological superiority. We don't talk about things that make us feel insecure, that make us feel unsettled. But the nature of spiritual growth, even the story of Christian faith, is a matter of being unsettled from the comfortable compromises we've made and set on a course together toward wholeness and mutually supportive community. Pastor T. C. Ryan takes us on an unsettling journey through his lifelong struggle with sexual addiction, one that predated and pervaded his pastoral ministry--one which for far too long he faced in secrecy and isolation, separated from the brothers and sisters in Christ who were called to bear one another's burdens. Ashamed No More doesn't cast blame or argue for looser moral standards. It does, however, call us to the unsettling ministry that a God who is love calls us to--the unsettling grace that is the audacious gospel of Christ.

A trustworthy guide to an intimate and refreshing relationship with God Award-winning author Walter Wangerin Jr. gracefully explores the dynamics of prayer--of speaking, of listening, of waiting, and of hearing God s voice. With luminous prose, he surveys the landscape of communication with God--what prayer feels like, looks like, and sounds like. He points out that whole prayer is a circle, closed and complete. We pour out our hearts and minds to God, who listens as we do. Then we listen intently for his voice when he speaks. Wangerin encourages readers not to eliminate any part of the circle so we don t cut the conversation short."

The stories, essays, prayers, and poems in Little Lamb, Who Made Thee? portray children, teenagers, adults, and parents as they grapple with the deep realities of life, and at the heart of this struggle are the vital relationship we have with families, for it is from our parents---and from our children---that we most profoundly learn about ourselves as children of God. This new, updated and expanded edition contains twelve new, never-before-published stories.

'Death doesn't wait till the ends of our lives to meet us and to make an end, ' says Walter Wangerin. 'Instead, we die a hundred times before we die; and all the little endings on the way are like a slowly growing echo of the final BANG ' Yet out of our many losses, our 'little deaths, ' comes a truer recognition of life. It is found in our relationships with ourselves, with our world, with others, and with our Creator. This is the dancing that can come out of mourning: the hope of restored relationships. Mourning into Dancing defines the stages of grief, names the many kinds of loss we suffer, shows how to help the grief-stricken, gives a new vision of Christ's sacrifice, and shows how a loving God shares our grief. We learn from this book that the way to dancing is through the valley of mourning--that grief is a poignant reminder of the fullness of life Christ obtained for us through his resurrection. In the words of writer and critic John Timmerman, Mourning into Dancing 'could well be the most important book you ever read

Gifted storyteller Walter Wangerin Jr. brings the characters, places, and events of scripture to life in this best-selling, narrative rendering of the entire Bible.

Most books on marriage offer ten easy steps and twenty-five proven principles for achieving marital bliss. But Walter Wangerin side-steps such easy answers and offers us instead an intimate portrait of his own courtship and thirty-two year marriage-and a pastoral view of married life that inspires readers to view their own marriages with new honesty and hope. Wangerin's six tasks of marriage encourages couples to better understand and happily live out the vows they made, giving them tools to nurture and maintain a strong marital relationship. In his endorsement, Philip Yancey accurately describes this book as "an enduring classic and a book of wisdom, beauty, compassion, and piercing honesty."

Acts of the Almighty by beloved, National Book Award-winning author Walter Wangerin Jr. carries us sequentially through the sweep of the Bible's story in daily devotional readings. One of the greatest modern writers on faith and spirituality, Walter Wangerin Jr. is the author of more than forty books - including The Book of God and The Book of the Dun Cow - and the recipient of the National Book Award. In Acts of the Almighty, Wangerin's deep biblical insight and poetic heart help us explore how the Bible fits together into one grand story. This 365-day devotional invites us to understand more fully God's redeeming works through five sections: Genesis and Exodus, David and Solomon, the prophets, the life of Christ, and the birth of the Church. The short, daily readings capture Wangerin's signature voice as well as his profound wisdom. Each dated entry contains a biblical passage that focuses on a single moment from the Bible's epic story, a brief meditation from Wangerin, and a prayer. Sink deep into this unique devotional that takes you through the Bible in one year. Acts of the Almighty offers a beautiful opportunity to read the Bible's expansive and arresting story in a brand-new way.

An intimate portrait of a complex individual through whom God was at work, turning the world upside down. With vivid imagination and scholarly depth, award-winning author Walter Wangerin Jr. weaves together the history of the early church with the life story of its greatest apostle--Paul. Wangerin begins to unfold Paul s incredible life by imagining the childhood and early family life of a boy then called 'Saul.' A fierce prosecutor of Christians before his conversion, Paul never lost his fiery dedication, boldness, and strong personality. After his shocking encounter with God on the road to Damascus, he applied his formidable strengths to spreading the gospel. Wangerin deftly reveals Paul s character through each stage of his life, and enables us to see Paul the person, living and complex, viewed through the eyes of his contemporaries: Barnabas, James, Prisca, Seneca, and Luke. Paul s rich interaction and brilliant dialogue with friends and foes, leaders and slaves, Jews and Greeks, creates a swift and intense historical drama around the man who spread the seed of the Gospel to the ends of the known world."