SelfLess: Living Your Part in the Big Story of God


Megan Fate Marshman - 2017
      People desire to be significant; however, ironically amidst a self-help and “find-me” culture, they become their own greatest obstacles. Significance cannot be created through self or found by desperately reaching for other people.   An abundant life, joyful spirit, and the awe of touching others can only be found by allowing God to fill hearts to overflowing. By moving over and giving Him everything, people discover what they really seek and join the amazing adventure of God’s wondrous story.

Praying the Bible


Donald S. Whitney - 2015
    Offering readers hope, encouragement, and the practical advice they’re looking for, this concise book by professor Donald Whitney outlines a simple, time-tested method that can help transform our prayer lives: praying the words of the Bible. Praying the Bible shows readers how to pray through portions of Scripture one line at a time, helping us stay focused by allowing God’s Word itself to direct our thoughts and words. Simple yet profound, this resource will prove invaluable to all Christians as they seek to commune with their heavenly Father in prayer each and every day.

You're Not Enough (and That's Ok): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love


Allie Beth Stuckey - 2020
    But instead of easing our emotional burden, the pressure to love ourselves more actually makes it worse. Even so, the idea that unconditional self-love can cure all that ails us is tempting and easy to rationalize.It's time to admit to ourselves what we already know: we are not smart enough; we are not beautiful enough; we are not tough enough; we are not good enough. And that's okay, because God is.Allie Beth Stuckey, a young mother, Christian, and conservative thought leader, was once herself sucked into the Cult of Self-Love--and knows that you probably have been too. In this book, she shows you how to identify and combat the toxic, exhausting myths our culture encourages with Scripture and traditional values like personal responsibility, self-sacrifice, and grit. For instance:Myth: There is no objective truth.Truth: We'll never feel personally fulfilled if we have no moral benchmark at which to aim.Myth: Life is all about me.Truth: When our highest priority is our own comfort and success, we end up alienating family and friends.Myth: Happiness is the goal.Truth: Since good vibes don't last forever, they're not sufficient criteria for personal purpose and meaning.Blending timeless wisdom and biblical truths, Stuckey shows how these sneaky, pervasive myths threaten women and fuel victimhood culture--from social justice warriors to radical feminism and the new wave of socialism. Stuckey dismantles these myths step-by-step and offers strategies that can help you move past them--and undo the damage they've done.

The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life


Os Guinness - 1998
    Best-selling author Os Guinness goes beyond our surface understanding of God's call and addresses the fact that God has a specific calling for our individual lives.Why am I here? What is God's call in my life? How do I fit God's call with my own individuality? How should God's calling affect my career, my plans for the future, my concepts of success? Guinness now helps the reader discover answers to these questions, and more, through a corresponding workbook - perfect for individual or group study.According to Guinness, "No idea short of God's call can ground and fulfill the truest human desire for purpose and fulfillment." With tens of thousands of readers to date, The Call is for all who desire a purposeful, intentional life of faith.Also availbale in audio format, narrated by Os Guinness.

Gifts of the Dark Wood: Seven Blessings for Soulful Skeptics (and Other Wanderers)


Eric Elnes - 2015
    Though commonly feared and avoided, these feelings of uncertainty can be your greatest assets on this journey because it is in uncertainty that we probe, question, and discover. According to the ancients, you don't need to be a saint or spiritual master to experience profound awakening and live with God's presence and guidance. You need only to wander.In clear and lucid prose that combines the heart of a mystic, the soul of a poet, and the mind of a biblical scholar, Dr. Eric Elnes demystifies the seven gifts bestowed in the Dark Wood: the gifts of uncertainty, emptiness, being thunderstruck, getting lost, temptation, disappearing, and the gift of misfits.This is a book for anyone who feels awkward in their search for God, anyone who seeks to find holiness amid their holy mess, and anyone who prefers practicality to piety when it comes to finding their place in this world.

Awakening the Buddha Within: Eight Steps to Enlightenment


Surya Das - 1997
    In Awakening the Buddha Within, Surya Das shows how we can awaken to who we really are in order to lead a more compassionate, enlightened, and balanced life. It illuminates the guidelines and key principles embodied in the noble Eight-Fold Path and the traditional Three Enlightenment Trainings common to all schools of Buddhism:Wisdom Training: Developing clear vision, insight, and inner understanding--seeing reality and ourselves as we really are.Ethics Training: Cultivating virtue, self-discipline, and compassion in what we say and do.Meditation Training: Practicing mindfulness, concentration, and awareness of the present moment.With lively stories, meditations, and spiritual practices, Awakening the Buddha Within is an invaluable text for the novice and experienced student of Buddhism alike.

Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer


C.S. Lewis - 1964
    S. Lewis to a close friend, Malcolm, we see an intimate side of Lewis as he considers all aspects of prayer and how this singular ritual impacts the lives and souls of the faithful. With depth, wit, and intelligence, as well as his sincere sense of a continued spiritual journey, Lewis brings us closer to understanding the role of prayer in our lives and the ways in which we might better imagine our relationship with God. "A beautifully executed and deeply moving little book." —Saturday Review "[Lewis] is writing about a path that he had to find, and the reader feels not so much that he is listening to what C.S. Lewis has to say but that he is making his own search with a humorous, sensible friend beside him." —Times Literary SupplementC. S. (Clive Staples) Lewis (1898-1963), one of the great writers of the twentieth century, also continues to be one of our most influential Christian thinkers. He wrote more than thirty books, both popular and scholarly, including The Chronicles of Narnia series, The Screwtape Letters, The Four Loves, Mere Christianity, and Surprised by Joy.

How People Grow: What the Bible Reveals About Personal Growth


Henry Cloud - 2001
    Yet the issues in our lives and relationships that we wish would change often stay the same, even with our best efforts at spiritual growth. What does it take to experience increasing strength and depth in our spiritual walk, our marriages and family lives and friendships, our personal development--in everything life is about? And how can we help others move into growth that is profound and lasting?Unpacking the practical and passionate theology that forms the backbone of their counseling, Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend shatter popular misconceptions about how God operates to reveal how growth really happens.You'll discover:What the essential processes are that make people grow.How those processes fit into a biblical understanding of spiritual growth and theology.How spiritual growth and real-life issues are one and the same.What the responsibilities are of pastors, counselors, and others who assist people in growingWhat your own responsibilities are in your personal growth.Shining focused light on the great doctrines and themes of Christianity, How People Grow helps you understand the Bible in a way that will help you head with confidence down the high road of growth in Christ.Workbook also available.

Between the Dreaming and the Coming True: The Road Home to God


Robert Benson - 1996
    For those who have questioned their Christian faith, Robert Benson offers an account of his sojourn in a season of trouble and his journey back to God. In this spiritual self-portrait, Benson's experiences--battling depression and re-examining the deep Christian faith in which he has been immersed since childhood--become poignant testament of one believer's struggle with the mysteries of faith's road.

The Pursuit of Holiness


Jerry Bridges - 1978
    But holiness is something that is often missed in the Christian's daily life. According to author Jerry Bridges, that's because we're not exactly sure what our part in holiness is. In The Pursuit of Holiness, he helps us see clearly just what we should rely on God to do--and what we should accept responsibility for ourselves.

Living with Contradiction: An Introduction to Benedictine Spirituality


Esther de Waal - 1989
    Benedict take as their starting point our search for wholeness in a world that is fragmented and increasingly polarized. Many people today struggle to balance the demands of professional and personal lives, and find little satisfaction or peacefulness in either. Yet the ancient wisdom of St. Benedict offers a clear and helpful pathway that leads directly to healing, transformation and new life.Written in de Waal's inimitable style, this book is for old friends of the Rule of St. Benedict and novices alike. Holding up segments of the Rule, de Waal's meditations on Benedict's words illuminate the wisdom of the Rule not only for those of Benedict's time, but for all of us today as well.

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.

Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue, Book 1


Neale Donald Walsch - 1995
    Suppose God provided clear, understandable answers. It happened to Neale Donald Walsch. It can happen to you. You are about to have a conversation... I have heard the crying of your heart. I have seen the searching of your soul. I know how deeply you have desired the Truth. In pain have you called out for it, and in joy. Unendingly have you beseeched Me. Show Myself. Explain Myself. Reveal Myself. I am doing so here, in terms so plain, you cannot misunderstand. In language so simple, you cannot be confused. In vocabulary so common, you cannot get lost in the verbiage. So go ahead now. Ask Me anything. Anything. I will contrive to bring you the answer. The whole universe will I use to do this. So be on the lookout; this book is far from My only tool. You may ask a question, then put this book down. But watch. Listen. The words to the next song you hear. The information in the next article you read. The story line of the next movie you watch. The chance utterance of the next person you meet. Or the whisper of the next river, the next ocean, the next breeze that caresses your ear - all these devices are Mine; all these avenues are open to Me. I will speak to you if you will listen. I will come to you if you will invite Me. I will show you then that I have always been there. All ways.

The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man


Abraham Joshua Heschel - 1951
    In this brief yet profound meditation on the meaning of the Seventh Day, Heschel introduced the idea of an "architecture of holiness" that appears not in space but in time. Judaism, he argues, is a religion of time: it finds meaning not in space and the material things that fill it but in time and the eternity that imbues it, so that "the Sabbaths are our great cathedrals."

Introduction to the Devout Life


Francis de Sales - 1609
    Francis De Sales' classic work transcends secular lines and provides a unique handbook of spiritual reflection for people in every avenue of life.