Dwell: Life with God for the World


Barry D. Jones - 2014
    Many are looking to spirituality as a means of disengaging from this life--to experience the transcendent or discover personal wholeness. On the other hand, much of popular Christian thought seems to be about avoiding the corruption of the world by being pious and following the rules. But Jesus offers a radical model for living. As the Incarnate One who dwelt among us to accomplish the mission of God, he teaches us how to dwell in the world for the sake of the world. If we are to become like him, we must learn what it means to live out this missional spirituality in the places we dwell. What does a Christian life deeply rooted in the logic of the Incarnation look like? Missional teacher and pastor Barry Jones shares his vision for authentic Christian spirituality focused on becoming more like Jesus. We dwell in a specific place and time in history, with unique bodies and in a world for which God has great purposes of redemption. This presence in the world should lead us to pattern our lives after the life of Jesus who was a boundary breaker, a shalom-maker, a people-keeper, and a wounded-healer. Jesus' life shows us what it looks like to be fully human, to be whole and holy . . . to be in the world and not of the world, to live passionately for the world and not protectively withdrawn from it, says Jones. Allowing the logic of the Incarnation to inform our vision of the spiritual life corrects the tendency toward a self-oriented pursuit of transcendence or a negative spirituality of behavior modification and disengagement from the world. Including practical suggestions for real-life application and questions for discussion, Jones describes living a missional life from a place of deep connection with and dependence on God. Not only must we have a clear and compelling vision of the life we want to live, but we must also cultivate the spiritual disciplines necessary to live out our vision in the specific contexts of day-to-day life. We need a renewed vision of Christian spirituality that leads us to be conformed into the image of Christ who dwelt with us for us.

The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of the Legendary Catholic Social Activist


Dorothy Day - 1952
    This inspiring and fascinating memoir, subtitled, “The Autobiography of the Legendary Catholic Social Activist,” The Long Loneliness is the late Dorothy Day’s compelling autobiographical testament to her life of social activism and her spiritual pilgrimage.A founder of the Catholic Worker Movement and longtime associate of Peter Maurin, Dorothy Day was eulogized in the New York Times as, “a nonviolent social radical of luminous personality.” The Long Loneliness recounts her remarkable journey from the Greenwich Village political and literary scene of the 1920s through her conversion to Catholicism and her lifelong struggle to help bring about “the kind of society where it is easier to be good.” (Description from Amazon.)

The Spiritual Combat and a Treatise on Peace of Soul


Lorenzo Scupoli
    First published in 1589, it was the favorite book of St Francis de Sales. Vigorous, realistic and full of keen insight into human nature, this volume consists of short chapters based on the maxim that in the spiritual life one must either "fight or die " It shows clearly how the Christian must combat his passions and vices in an intelligent method, in order to arrive at victory, rather than running around blindly beating the air. Fr Scupoli explains how to concentrate one's energies in order to make constant progress in acquiring virtue, with particularly specific advice for overcoming the vices of impurity and sloth. The Spiritual Combat is one of the greatest and best known classic on the spiritual life that will inspire and instruct readers of today just as it has for over 400 years.

The Seventh Trumpet and the Seven Thunders


Russell M. Stendal - 2013
    This is where we discover the message of the seventh trumpet. It will sound along with the previous six trumpets on the last day, but the Lord has been sounding this message throughout all of history. The trumpet symbolizes the direct voice of God and the gospel of redemption. It was blown to warn of danger and announce that there is shelter and protection in God.So what does the Lord require of us so that we may participate in His plan of redemption?In this book, you’ll discover:Cross-referenced scriptures unveiling the definition of the seventh trumpet and seven thunders.Incredible symbolism concerning Noah, the Ark, and God’s plan for us today.Insights concerning the altar, blood, and communion with God.Revealing details of Leviathan and our current government and institutions.Scripture references indicating widespread false new births and “spiritual abortions”, and what a genuine new birth looks like.God’s requirements for individuals in order to escape the day of wrath.The Seventh Trumpet will help you connect the dots, bringing end times Bible prophecy and all that is involved into clearer light. The antichrist, rapture of the church, second coming of Jesus and predictions concerning the end of the world will all make more sense.

Experiencing the Holy Spirit


Andrew Murray - 1999
    While exploring the biblical promises relating to the Spirit, Murray explains how you can…Discover God’s will for your lifeLearn the secret of spiritual growthBe led by the Holy SpiritLive in victory over sinClaim your inheritance in ChristStrengthen your spiritual walkReceive and attract God’s favor and blessings Discover the life-changing benefits of being filled with the Holy Spirit. As God’s divine power flows into your heart and permanently transforms your life, you will excel to new heights in your Christian maturity and experience!

Life in Christ: Practicing Christian Spirituality


Julia Gatta - 2018
    Yet, perhaps only rarely do they grasp the implications of the theology embedded in these practices or in the liturgies of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, which has shaped Episcopalians in this country with its emphasis on baptismal spirituality and the centrality of the Eucharist. Julia Gatta wants to change that with her book, Life in Christ.Applying her years of experience as pastor and spiritual director combined with her study of the spiritual wisdom of the past, she explores common Christian practices and their underlying theology through an Episcopal lens. In the tradition of Esther de Waal, Martin Smith, and Martin Thornton, with particular reference to scripture, The Book of Common Prayer, and the wisdom of the Christian spiritual tradition, she illuminates methods readers may already be practicing and provides insight and guidance to ones that may be new to them.

The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness


Karen Armstrong - 2004
    After seven brutally unhappy years as a nun, she left her order to pursue English literature at Oxford. But convent life had profoundly altered her, and coping with the outside world and her expiring faith proved to be excruciating. Her deep solitude and a terrifying illness–diagnosed only years later as epilepsy–marked her forever as an outsider. In her own mind she was a complete failure: as a nun, as an academic, and as a normal woman capable of intimacy. Her future seemed very much in question until she stumbled into comparative theology. What she found, in learning, thinking, and writing about other religions, was the ecstasy and transcendence she had never felt as a nun. Gripping, revelatory, and inspirational, The Spiral Staircase is an extraordinary account of an astonishing spiritual journey.

The School of Biblical Evangelism: 101 Lessons: How to Share Your Faith Simply, Effectively, Biblically... the Way Jesus Did


Ray Comfort - 2004
    the way Jesus did. Discover the God-given evangelistic tools that will enable you t

Jesus Is: Find a New Way to Be Human


Judah Smith - 2013
    How would you finish that sentence?The subject is there, and so is the verb, but what comes next? Your answer could shed light on the path to becoming who you were made to be. In these pages, Judah Smith fills out that sentence again and again, each time further revealing the character of Jesus. He writes as if to a friend, revealing the Jesus that somber paintings and hymns fail to capture. With passion, humor, and conviction, he shows that Jesus is life. Jesus is grace. Jesus is your friend. Jesus is a new and better way to be human.

One-Minute Aquinas: The Doctor's Quick Answers to Fundamental Questions


Kevin Vost - 2014
    Thomas wrote, then turn to The One-Minute Aquinas, the fast-paced book that provides busy readers with simple, readable explanations of the truths that, for 750 years now, have caused the works of St. Thomas to be sought out by kings and popes, scholars and saints, as well as by ordinary souls like you — hungry to know God and to love him more and more.In this book’s lucid pages, author Kevin Vost gives you small, digestible portions of St. Thomas’s life-giving wisdom that you can enjoy one minute at a time. Tables and graphics will help you grasp and remember St. Thomas’s key ideas with a minimum of time and effort.Best of all, in The One-Minute Aquinas you’ll find quick, sure refutations of the countless relativistic, secular, and pseudoscientific ideas that are so influential in our culture today — and so shallow, contradictory, and wrong!Pope John Paul II declared that “the Church has been justified in consistently proposing St. Thomas as a master of thought and a model of the right way to do theology.” Now The One-Minute Aquinas enables even those with limited time and only a modest education to benefit from the wisdom of this great saint.Here, with minimal effort and among scores of other things, you’ll finally come to know and understand:--Why God permits evil--Heaven: what it is (and is not)--Five simple proofs that God exists--Why God became man--Why Jesus let himself be tempted--How you can grow quickly in virtue--Why all souls need the sacraments--Why Jesus let himself be crucified--The causes of lust--The natural law and the Commandments--The soul, free will, sin, and damnation--The angels, their ranks, and their powers--How God governs (and refrains from governing)--God’s power and its limits--The Bible: why didn’t Jesus just write it himself?--The surprising qualities of our resurrected bodies

The Extraordinary Parents of St. Therese of Lisieux: Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin


Hélène Mongin - 2015
    Through stories, domestic insights from Zelie's correspondence, and running commentary on their faith and family, we see in vivid detail how Louis and Zelie created a joyful Catholic home amid the daily stresses of ordinary life with their children.

I Come Quietly to Meet You An Intimate Journey in Gods Presence


Amy Carmichael - 1991
    Amy Carmichael remained faithful to God through times of material need, physical danger, pain, debilitating illness, disappointment, and attack by friends. From this crucible she guides readers into a deeper friendship with the Father who is always trustworthy. Formerly released as You Are My Hiding Place.

Sensible Shoes: A Story about the Spiritual Journey


Sharon Garlough Brown - 2010
    Meg, a widow and recent empty-nester who is haunted by her past. Mara, a woman who has experienced a lifetime of rejection and is now trying to navigate a difficult marriage. Charissa, a hard-working graduate student who wants to get things right. You?re invited to join these four women as they reluctantly arrive at a retreat center and find themselves drawn out of their separate stories of isolation and struggle and into a collective journey of spiritual practice, mutual support and personal revelation. Along the way, readers will be taken into a new understanding of key spiritual practices and find tangible support for the deeper life with God. If you want to travel this journey with others, you will find a group study guide and book club resources at www.sensibleshoesclub.com.

Great Lent: Journey to Pascha


Alexander Schmemann - 1969
    Schmemann draws on the Church's sacramental and liturgical tradition to suggest the meaning of Lent in our life. The Lenten season is meant to kindle a 'bright sadness' within our hearts. Its aim is precisely the remembrance of Christ, a longing for a relationship with God that has been lost. Lent offers the time and place for recovery of this relationship. The darkness of Lent allows the flame of the Holy Spirit to burn within our hearts until we are led to the brilliance of the Resurrection.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta A Personal Portrait Abridged Edition


Leo Maasburg