What are you giving up for Lent? What if instead of giving up chocolate or coffee, you give up apathy or indifference? If you're open to considering some habits to kick so that you can contribute to a more just and fair world, keep reading! It doesn't matter if you're Catholic, Lutheran, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Bahá'í, Agnostic, or Atheist...If you're interested in being the change you wish to see in the world, this book is for you.
The Christian Writers Market Guide - 2021 Edition is the most comprehensive and recommended resource on the market for finding an agent, an editor, a publisher, a writing coach, a podcast, a writing course, or a place to sell whatever you are writing. Wherever you are in your writing journey the Guide will help you find what you are looking for. Nearly 1,000 listings including more than 200 book publishers, 150 periodical publishers, 40 specialty markets, 200 writers conferences and writers groups around the world, 40 literary agencies, 250 freelance editors and designers, 15 writing-related podcasts, and much more!
Are you addicted to your phone? Do you find yourself engaging online but unengaged at home with the people right in front of you? Do you spend hours scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, newsfeeds, and YouTube videos? Have your devices become divisive--dividing you from family and friends and, most importantly, God? What would happen if you took some time to fast from social media in order to get social with God and others once more? In the pattern of her popular 40-Day Sugar Fast, Wendy Speake offers you The 40-Day Social Media Fast. This "screen sabbatical" is designed to help you become fully conscious of your dependence on social media so you can purposefully unplug from screens and plug into real life with the help of a very real God. Take a break from everyone and everything you follow online. Disconnect in order to reconnect with the only One who said "follow me."
In his last week on Earth, Jesus knew the end was near. He knew the finality of Friday, but did he also know the victory of Sunday? Join bestselling author and pastor Max Lucado invites you to walk with Jesus in the week leading up to the crucifixion: feeling his passion, sensing his authority, and hearing his promise that death has no power. On Calvary's Hill paints a picture of Jesus in his final week: Jesus was commonly dressed but uncommonly focused. Leaving Jericho and walking toward Jerusalem, he doesn't chatter or pause. He's on his final journey. Even the angels are silent. They know this is no ordinary walk or week--hinged on this week is the door of eternity. With excerpts from Max's bestsellers, including 3:16, He Chose the Nails, and Just Like Jesus, On Calvary's Hill will take you into Jesus' last week, from the road to Jerusalem to the resurrection. Each reading includes a timeless verse, an in-depth reading, and a thoughtful prayer designed to help you draw near to the Savior and prepare to celebrate the resurrection--the greatest miracle ever conceived. As we observe Jesus' last week, Max challenges us to face difficult questions, including: When betrayal comes, what can we do? Why is the cross a symbol of Christianity? What would it feel like to witness this scene firsthand? Let's follow Jesus on his final journey. By observing his, we may learn how to make ours.
What if you fasted regret? What if your friends fasted comparison? What if your generation fasted escapism? What if your community fasted spectatorship? Trigger a spiritual revolution with this daily devotional for Lent. Decrease life's unnecessary details and increase your relationship with the Lord so you can live in awe of Christ's resurrection! 40 Days of Decrease is a guide for those hungering for a fresh Lenten/Easter experience. Dr. Alicia Britt Chole guides you through a study of Jesus’ uncommon and uncomfortable call to abandon the world’s illusions, embrace His kingdom’s realities, and journey cross-ward and beyond. Containing readings, refection questions, daily fasts, ancient quotes, and more, each day offers a meaningful consideration of Jesus’ journey and then invites you into a daily fast of heart-clutter—the stuff that sticks to your soul and weighs you down. You can begin your forty-day journey any time of the year, but you may find it especially meaningful as a Lenten preparation to live in awe of Jesus’ resurrection. Each daily, 1000-word entry includes a: Devotion based on Jesus’ life Reflection question to guide journaling or group discussion Heart fast to inspire a tangible response Thought-provoking Lenten quote Optional sidebar into the historical development of Lent Suggested reading that takes you from John 12 to John 21 Journaling space for reflection In the same way self cannot satisfy self no matter how long it feasts, self cannot starve self no matter how long it fasts. Decrease—like increase—is only holy when its destination is love. Dare to live awed by Christ’s resurrection!
Dare to move beyond “it is what it is” thinking and become an agent of love and redemption in your household, neighborhood, and workplace. “It is what it is”—a common phrase you hear and maybe even say yourself. But the truth is that there is not one square inch in the whole domain of our human existence that simply is what it is. Justin McRoberts invites you to embrace a new mindset: it is what you make of it. With warmth, wisdom, and humor, McRoberts shares key moments from his twenty-plus years as an artist, church planter, pastor, singer-songwriter, author, neighbor, and father, passing on lessons and practices learned about making something good from what we’ve been given rather than simply accepting things as they are. Thought-provoking but actionable, It Is What You Make of It declares that love doesn’t just win, mercy doesn’t just triumph, and light doesn’t just cast out shadow. Rather, such renewal requires the work of human hands and hearts committed to a vision of a world made right (or at least a little better). When we partner with God in these endeavors, we love the world well and honor the Creator in whose image we are made. We will not be remembered for who our parents were or where we were born or what our socioeconomic circumstances were. We won’t be remembered for our natural talents and strengths or the opportunities we were given or the challenges we faced. In the end, each of us will be remembered for what we made with what we were given.
If you're looking for a new Lenten experience, here are forty fresh ideas. Some will challenge you to deepen your prayer life; others will open your mind to new ways to serve others. Each of the forty ways includes a reflection to help you understand more about Lent and why it matters. You'll learn how to have a more creative experience of Lent. You'll discover positive, proactive ways to take action instead of the same old routine of giving something up. The result will be spiritual transformation and a closer walk with Christ—not only during Lent but throughout the year.
“Fasting is the body talking what the spirit yearns, what the soul longs for, and what the mind knows to be true.” — Scot McKnight Christianity has traditionally been at odds with the human body. At times in the history of the church, Christians have viewed the body and physical desires as the enemy. Now, Scot McKnight, best-selling author of The Jesus Creed , reconnects the spiritual and the physical in the ancient discipline of fasting. Inside You'll Find: In-depth biblical precedents for the practice of fasting; How to fast effectively—and safely; Different methods of fasting as practiced in the Bible; Straight talk on pitfalls, such as cheating and motivation. Join McKnight as he explores the idea of “whole-body spirituality,” in which fasting plays a central role. This ancient practice, he says, doesn’t make sense to most of us until we have grasped the importance of the body for our spirituality, until we can view it as a spiritual response to a sacred moment. Fasting—simple, primitive, and ancient—still demonstrates a whole person’s earnest need and hunger for the presence of God, just as it has in the lives of God’s people throughout history. The Ancient Practices There is a hunger in every human heart for connection, primitive and raw, to God. To satisfy it, many are beginning to explore traditional spiritual disciplines used for centuries . . . everything from fixed-hour prayer to fasting to sincere observance of the Sabbath. Compelling and readable, the Ancient Practices series is for every spiritual sojourner, for every Christian seeker who wants more.
Based on the popular spiritual healing program designed by Bob Schuchts and the John Paul II Healing Center, Lenten Healing offers a twist to traditional Lenten fasting: instead of giving up chocolate, give up your sin. This daily Lenten devotional offers a unique approach to fasting, helping you reexamine the psychological and spiritual roots of sin in your life while sharing reflections and prayer exercises for overcoming sinful habits and acquiring virtuous ones. Lent is the ideal time to identify and address "spiritual blind spots"—unacknowledged emotional wounds and false ideas that hinder your prayer life and worship. During each week of Lent, Ken Kniepmann of the John Paul II Healing Center breaks open one of the seven deadly sins (pride, lust, gluttony, sloth, anger, envy, and greed) and its corresponding virtue (humility, chastity, abstinence, diligence, patience, kindness, and liberality). You'll start by learning about the sin and how it manifests itself in daily life and thought patterns. Then you'll move into reflection and prayer exercises that guide you through the process of renouncing that week's sin and resolving to adopt that week's virtue. Fasting, the practice of giving up pleasures or comforts, allows us to grow in holiness by putting our desires to a kind of death. Obvious examples include giving up a habit such as a favorite food, sleeping in, or late-night TV—but what happens when you try to give up your sins while recognizing the deeper reasons you commit them in the first place? By seeing those connections and praying specifically for God's insight, healing, and revelation, you’ll be able to experience God’s mercy and love to a greater capacity. Kniepmann helps you see how the depth of Catholic teaching is connected to your daily life. Sin isn't just an activity; it is a place of the heart (the interior life) and the movement of the heart (toward or away from sin) as related to thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. By the time Easter arrives, you'll possess a deeper understanding of sin and emotional wounds as impediments to intimacy with God and come away with tangible, practical tools for addressing those impediments in your life.
Jesus loves you. That profound fact has been changing lives around the world for centuries. Yet, there are days when you don’t experience this completely in your own life. So, how do you get to the very core of that statement on a deep, personal level? Keri Wyatt Kent wants to help you fully experience the heart of Jesus’ love in Deeply Loved. Using the gospel stories of Jesus, reflection, and personal stories, Kent will guide you through 40 days of how to create space in your life for Jesus to show up and love you. Deeply.
