Book picks similar to
Advent and Christmas with Thomas Merton by Thomas Merton
christmas
advent
theology
non-fiction
A Cup of Comfort Women of the Bible Devotional: Daily Reflections Inspired by Scripture's Most Beloved Heroines
James Stuart Bell - 2009
Now these inspirational reflections have been collected in one place with this devotional. This beautifully packaged volume features twelve poignant stories for each month and a year’s worth of daily reflections. You will relate to how other women deal with life in relation to biblical women through stories, such as:
Betty, who finds the wisdom she needs from Martha when she feels too busy and overwhelmed with life to take the time to talk with Jesus
Susan, who lost her husband to colon cancer, turns to the example of Elizabeth by sharing in the joy of others who recover from the same type of cancer, instead of harboring resentment
Love, motherhood, sadness, joy, grief—everything is explored by these contributors. The power of these biblical women will inspire you to call upon God’s love, help, and grace whenever needed.
Advent in Narnia: Reflections for the Season
Heidi Haverkamp - 2015
S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" fits naturally into the Advent season. As the reader seeks a storied king and anticipates the glorious coming of Christmas, these twenty-eight devotions alternate between Scripture and passages from the novel to prompt meditation on Advent themes. Each devotion also includes questions for reflection. The book also provides several resources for churches, including four sessions for small group discussion and ideas for creating a "Narnia Night" for families. Readers will ultimately come to know God better while journeying through Narnia.
Victory in Spiritual Warfare: Outfitting Yourself for the Battle
Tony Evans - 2011
Tony Evans, one of the most respected church leaders in the country, is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, a thriving congregation of 8000. In this timely, unique exploration of spiritual warfare, Dr. Evans unveils a simple yet radical truth: every struggle and conflict faced in the physical realm has its root in the spiritual realm.With passion and clarity, Dr. Evans demystifies spiritual warfare so that readers can tackle challenges and obstacles with spiritual power—God’s authority—as they:understand how the battle is fought by Satanactively use the armor of Godfind strength in prayer and sufficiency in Christwin over chemical, sexual, emotional, relational, and other strongholdsDr. Evans is compelling, down to earth, and excited for believers to experience their victory in Christ and embrace the life, hope, and purpose God has for them.
To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings
John O'Donohue - 2008
John O'Donohue, Irish teacher and poet, looks at life's thresholds--getting married, having children, starting a new job--and offers invaluable guidelines for making the transition from a known, familiar world into a new, unmapped territory.Most profoundly, however, O'Donohue explains "blessings" as a way of life, a lens through which the whole world is transformed. He awakens readers to timeless truths and shows the power they have to answer contemporary dilemmas and ease us through periods of change.
Awe: Why It Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do
Paul David Tripp - 2015
--Francis Chan, New York Times bestselling author, Crazy Love and Forgotten GodHumans are hardwired for awe.Our hearts are always captured by something--that's how God made us. But sin threatens to distract us from the glory of our Creator. All too often, we stand in awe of everything but God.Uncovering the lies we believe about all the earthly things that promise us peace, life, and contentment, Paul Tripp redirects our gaze to God's awe-inducing glory--showing how such a vision has the potential to impact our every thought, word, and deed.
Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith
Kathleen Norris - 1998
Words like "judgment," "faith," "dogma," "salvation," "sinner"—even "Christ"—formed what she called her "scary vocabulary," words that had become so codified or abstract that their meanings were all but impenetrable. She found she had to wrestle with them and make them her own before they could confer their blessings and their grace. Blending history, theology, storytelling, etymology, and memoir, Norris uses these words as a starting point for reflection, and offers a moving account of her own gradual conversion. She evokes a rich spirituality rooted firmly in the chaos of everyday life—and offers believers and doubters alike an illuminating perspective on how we can embrace ancient traditions and find faith in the contemporary world.
Postmodern Youth Ministry: Exploring Cultural Shift, Creating Holistic Connections, Cultivating Authentic Community
Tony Jones - 2001
Everything you believe is suspect. The world is up for grabs. Welcome to the emerging postmodern culture. A "free zone" of rapid change that places high value on community, authenticity, and even God--but has little interest in modern, Western-tinged Christianity. Postmodern Youth Ministry addresses these enormous philosophical shifts and shows how they’re affecting teenagers.
Orthodoxy
G.K. Chesterton - 1908
Many critics complained of the book because it merely criticised current philosophies without offering any alternative philosophy. This book is an attempt to answer the challenge. It is the purpose of the writer to attempt an explanation, not of whether the Christian Faith can be believed, but of how he personally has come to believe it. The book is therefore arranged upon the positive principle of a riddle and its answer. It deals first with all the writer's own solitary and sincere speculations and then with the startling style in which they were all suddenly satisfied by the Christian Theology. The writer regards it as amounting to a convincing creed. But if it is not that it is at least a repeated and surprising coincidence.
The Spiritual Physics of Light: How We See, Feel, and Know Truth
Aaron D. Franklin - 2021
Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul
John Eldredge - 2004
And every little girl holds in her heart her most precious dreams. She longs to be swept up into a romance, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, to" be" the Beauty of the story. And yet―how many women do you know who ever find that life?Most women think they have to settle for a life of efficiency and duty, striving to be the women they "ought" to be but often feeling they have failed. Sadly, too many messages for Christian women add to the pressure. "Do these ten things, and you will be a godly woman." The effect has not been good on the feminine soul.The message of "Captivating" is this: Your heart matters more than anything else in all creation. The desires you had as a little girl and the longings you still feel are telling you of the life God created you to live. He offers to rescue your heart and release you to live as a fully alive and feminine woman. A woman who is truly captivating.
Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul's Path to God
Gary L. Thomas - 1996
Reprint.
Scott Hahn's Study Guide for The Lamb' s Supper
Scott Hahn - 2010
This message helps readers to more fully understand their faith, and the book is widely embraced by readers around the world. With this new companion book, readers—both individuals and groups—now have everything they need to further deepen their engagement with, understanding of, and enthusiasm for Catholicism’s central and defining Sacrament, the Eucharist. With his Study Guide for The Lamb’s Supper, Scott Hahn adds summary and key points, scriptural references, excerpts from Church teachings, songs of praise, and questions for reflection and discussion for each section of the original to supplement, complement, and illuminate his bestselling work.
Prepare Him Room: A Daily Advent Devotional
Susie Larson - 2021
But in the hurriedness of December, sometimes we find ourselves sacrificing a sacred pace for hustle, leaving us feeling more stressed than blessed. What if you approached this Advent more open to the things of God? What if you decided to be expectant that God would move in your midst? What if you made room for the true joy found in the coming of our King? Prepare Him Room invites you to give God sacred space in your holiday season as you ponder the miracle of Christ within you and respond to His work in your life. As you begin your Christmas preparations this year, journey through Luke's account of Jesus' birth, life, death, and ultimate resurrection. God invites you to be still and let Jesus radically transform you this holy season. Let earth receive her King!
Deliverance Prayers: For Use by the Laity
Chad A. Ripperger - 2016
Prayers for use by the laity in waging spiritual warfare from the public domain and the Church's treasury.
In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers; With a Translation of Abba Zosimas' Reflections
John Chryssavgis - 2003
Not only do the sayings of the Desert Fathers possess the imprint of eternity,but the fresh and vital commentary by Father John Chryssavgis provides a key which unlocks their relevance for the reader of today. The actual Egyptian desert to which these monks fled in the fourth and fifth centuries was, of course, an actual place. But, the desert may also be understood as an inner geography of desolation and abandonment. Father John tells us that anyone who has experienced loneliness, brokenness, breakdown, or break-up--whether emotionally, physically, or socially--will connect with the profound humanity of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Various traditions from world religions teach that God enters into the empty soul. The universal and perennial message of these first Christian monks concerns the necessity of emptiness; they show us, by their examples, how to confront the chaotic impulses of the soul which drive us away from that still point where God is waiting.In the Heart of the Desert portrays several of the key figures in early Christian monasticism including one of the Desert Mothers, Amma Syncletica. It also includes the first translation into English of the fifth-century text, The Reflections of Abba Zosimas. In a sense, this is not a book of the past, of the fourth or fifth centuries. It may be described as a book of the age to come, or of a new age. It speaks to our present age of an experience of a new life, of a fullness and renewal of life.