Living Religions

Christine Valters Paintner, best-selling Catholic author and online abbess for Abbey of the Arts, uses reflections, stories, guided activities, prayer experiences, and a variety of creative arts to help you patiently and attentively listen to God's invitation. Everyone wants to understand God's will for their lives. Christine Valters Paintner shares one of the most ancient paths to understanding from her study of monasticism and immersion into Celtic spirituality while living in Ireland.

In this Very Short Introduction Stephen J. Davis discusses the history of monasticism, from our earliest evidence for it, and the different types that have developed from antiquity to the present day. He considers where monasteries are located, from East Asia to North America, and everywhere in between, and how their settings impact the everyday life and worldview of the monks and nuns who dwell there. Exploring how monastic communities are organized, he also looks at how aspects of life like food, sleep, sex, work, and prayer are regimented.

Authored by counselor Dr. Richard Plass and spiritual director James Cofield, The Relational Soul brings together concepts from psychology and spiritual formation. Each chapter includes introductory stories and practical "If this is true, what about you?" questions to help listeners engage in relationships in more life-giving ways. When the presence of Christ and community connects with a soul that is open, we witness the miracle of transformation.

In this 100-day devotional, trusted Bible teacher Tara-Leigh Cobble explores powerful sections from each book of the New Testament. Each day's reading points toward a name or attribute of God from that passage. These snapshots are dense with theological truth, helping you grow in the truth of His character and rest in His goodness and kindness.

In Flowers from a Puritan’s Garden, Spurgeon prayerfully selects and expands upon the profound insights and analogies gleaned from Thomas Manton’s sermons. Each “flower” in this garden is a spiritual truth, lovingly cultivated and presented with Spurgeon's signature warmth, wit, and pastoral care.

A husband dead in a fiery crash. A son claimed by a killer’s hand. Tammy Horvath doesn’t think she’ll ever smile again. Strengthened by her faith, she bravely heads solo to Iceland to see the northern lights, where she climbs glaciers and ventures into caves before seizing the opportunity to travel more often. Tammy will take you on a journey of love, laughter, and inspirational life lessons as she swims in the crystal-clear Caribbean Sea, gets stuck atop one of Mexico’s pyramids, endures a tropical storm in the Bahamas, and hikes amid Yellowstone National Park’s spectacular scenery.

Men who were led by the hand or groped their way along the wall to reach Jesus were touched by his finger and went home without a guide, rejoicing that Jesus Christ had opened their eyes. Jesus is still able to perform such miracles. And, with the power of the Holy Spirit, his Word will be expounded and we’ll watch for the signs to follow, expecting to see them at once. Why shouldn’t those who read this be blessed with the light of heaven? This is my heart's inmost desire.

There has perhaps never been an age that set such great store in study as that in which we now live. The unfortunate thing about it is that so much of the study in our day is devoted to books and subjects in which there is little or no profit. Time is squandered on the purely speculative, the uncertain, the unprofitable, the unessential, the unproductive, the irrelevant, and the transitory. The most profitable of all study is wisely ordered Bible study. Its value is incalculable. It is beyond all comparison more profitable than any other study.

En Imitación de Cristo, Tomás de Kempis ofrece una epopeya intelectual sobre los albores del alma y el pensamiento cristiano. Ingresar en este vasto compendio va más allá de conocer las enseñanzas y consejos de Cristo: se trata de adentrarse en uno mismo. No por nada se considera que este libro, después de la Biblia, es el más influyente del cristianismo.

Many Christians do not have a full understanding of what it means to fight the good fight of faith. They try to live by faith but in the face of everyday trials and failures, they find themselves disillusioned and discouraged, wondering if they have done something wrong or if living by faith only works for others. The problem for most is simply a lack of understanding regarding what faith is and how it works. This book, inspired by the Book of Joshua, reviews three tools a person can develop to fight in faith.

An inspirational toolkit for solo living - full of sound, practical advice, warmth and humour. Whether you view living alone as the ultimate compromise or the ultimate luxury, it presents daily challenges, such as cooking for one, organising holidays, juggling finances and avoiding the siren call of wine, Ugg boots and Netflix. And there are the less tangible tests, like nailing the octopus of loneliness to the wall and holding your head high in a society where solo living is viewed (consciously or not) as the runner-up prize.

Elizabeth Bennet is pleased when Netherfield Hall is let at last to Mr. Charles Bingley, a young man of good fortune from the north. She is less pleased to discover that Mr. Bingley is already married and that his clever and handsome friend, Mr. Darcy, is engaged. Darcy finds himself entranced with Elizabeth Bennet, but he has been forced by duty into an engagement to another. Many years previously, a man had done a great service for the Darcy family, which resulted in a promise by the elder Mr. Darcy.

Beginning from Genesis and working all the way through the story line of the Bible, Worthy demonstrates the significant and yes, even surprising, ways that God has used women to accomplish his kingdom goals. Like men, they are created in his image, and their lives reflect and declare his worth. Worthy will enable and encourage both men and women to embrace this true and lofty vision of God’s creation, plan, and their value in his eyes.

Living Beyond Offense explores Jesus's teachings about forgiveness—what it is, what it costs, and what you gain when you put it into practice. Blending theology, Scripture, and pieces of her own life story, Yana Conner writes not as a blameless expert but as a fellow traveler on the forgiveness journey. Forgiveness is hard work, but you can learn to trust again! Despite the pain you've experienced, you will find ideas and encouragement for rooting yourself in God's trustworthiness and living in shalom once more.

Dan Strange encourages Christians to engage with everything they watch, to read and play in a positive and discerning way. He also teaches Christians how to think and speak about culture in a way that plugs in to a bigger and better reality - the story of King Jesus, and his cosmic plan for the world. It's possible to watch TV and read novels and play video games in a way that actually feeds our faith, rather than withers it. It's even possible for you - yes, you - to be that person who starts off talking to a mate about last night's football and ends up talking about Jesus.

In the church today, we have everything buttoned up perfectly. The music is flawless, the sermon well-prepared and smoothly delivered, and the grounds meticulously kept. People come on time and go home on time. But a fundamental element is missing. The business of church has undermined the individual's need to truly live for Christ, so much so, that only a limited few are seeing their life impact the world.

Although this is a small book, yet it presents you with matters of the greatest and most weighty concern, even with a discourse of life and death to eternity. It reveals and clarifies, by the Scriptures of God, that the time is at hand when there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust – even of the bodies of both, from the graves where they are, or will be, at the start of that day.

Clinical psychologist Hillary L. McBride sends a sincere and profound message: spiritual trauma is real and impacts us all. She also reassures us that we can remake ourselves and heal in its aftermath. McBride expertly and compassionately shows that acknowledging the impact of spiritual trauma in our lives allows us to begin to repair our wounds individually and collectively, experiencing reconnection with ourselves and others.

It has been a long time since there have been as many ideas and events in our world causing fear and anxiety as there are today. But one thing, in any event, is clear, and that is the duty of Christians to search more diligently than ever the prophetic Scriptures. Let us compare prophecies fulfilled with prophecies unfulfilled and attempt to make the one illustrate the other. Let us strive, above all, to obtain clear views of the things we should be expecting, both in the church and the world, before the end comes and time will be no more.

A newly revised and updated edition of the internationally best-selling spiritual classic, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, written by Sogyal Rinpoche, is the ultimate introduction to Tibetan Buddhist wisdom.