This book is designed for people who are either in a committed relationship or want to be. A committed relationship is one path toward spiritual growth and transformation. It is not the only path, nor is it a very easy path. The seven spiritual laws discussed in Part Two of this book provide a roadmap for couples who are committed to their mutual spiritual growth. This simple but profound guide to growth and happiness for couples will help you and your partner weather the ups and downs of your relationship so that you can grow together and deepen the intimacy between you.
Even if your wedding day is years off, "Spiritual Relationships That Last" tests your readiness for Christian marriage, life's most intimate love. If you are already married you will discover how to move ahead by building a lasting unity between you and your spouse. And whether you are single or married, you will find out how to stop a fruitless search for a mythical true love and to instead focus on building the relational skills that make marriage work.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A candid, inspiring guide to finding lasting love and sustaining a healthy relationship by getting real about your goals—based on the viral, multi-million-view sermon series about dating, marriage, and sex “No matter where you are and no matter what stage of life you are in, Relationship Goals will be a game changer.”—Levi Lusko NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY COSMOPOLITAN You scroll through photo after photo of happy couples and think, I want a relationship like that! The thing is, those intimate relationships are a mirage—the closer you get to them, the more you realize they aren’t real at all. So what does a real relationship look like? And how do you get there? In Relationship Goals, Pastor Michael Todd digs deep to give you good news and real-life ideas for making the most of your most important relationships. Take a look at • what it means to choose intentional dating over recreational dating • how to move on from mistakes you’ve made in the past • why love gets stronger after marriage • what the Bible has to say about sex (hot take: it’s more sizzling than you think) • why the best friendships have God at the center Whether you are married, single, or it’s complicated, aiming for the right targets will make all the difference in finding true satisfaction. As it turns out, God’s got the best relationship goals of all for your life. Why settle for less?
Based on his personal experiences, the author of"The Celestine Prophecy" and "The Tenth Insight" shares his vision for--and explains how to achieve--a new era of global peace and understanding.
From the bestselling author of Spiritual Parenting & Spiritual Pregnancy How to find true love by finding yourself… Following the immense success of Spiritual Parenting and Spiritual Pregnancy, Gopika Kapoor now presents Spiritual Relationships. This book steers you through the entire process of a romantic relationship, starting with the search for love and the complexities of the dating game to finding love and getting married. But what makes this book different is its perspective: Gopika Kapoor believes that for relationships to be true and lasting, they need to have a spiritual foundation. The basis of a spiritual relationship lies within the self: you can’t understand someone else until you can understand yourself; and you can’t truly love someone unless you love yourself. Therefore, the crux of a spiritual relationship with another person is a relationship with yourself! While this is a profound concept that the author explores in the book, she does it with lightness and humour. She is also realistic, and finds ways to reconcile the spiritual path with everyday living; the result is a practical guide to a spiritual relationship. So, if you are looking for true love, have just been dumped, are wondering if the person you are with is Mr/Miss. Right or are planning the Great Indian Wedding, this book is just what you need!
• Presents interviews with ten contemporary practitioners of spirit marriage, exploring how the relationship developed and the opportunities and challenges • Discusses the author’s own spirit marriage, including her awakening as an erotic mystic and her encounters with her Faery beloved • Explains how to cultivate a spirit marriage, sharing precautions and practices to spiritually prepare yourself and navigate the potential challenges of spirit marriage Exploring the phenomenon of the spirit spouse or spirit lover--an entity to which a human is psychically bonded--Megan Rose, Ph.D., examines the practice and purpose of spirit marriage around the world, presenting transcultural evidence of this form of sacred union in anthropological research, religious literature, mythology, folklore, and the oral tradition. She shares her in-depth interviews with ten contemporary practitioners of spirit marriage, including a Faery Seer, a Shakta Tantric, a West African Shrine Keeper, a New Orleans Voodoo Mambo, Haitian Vodou practitioners, and a ceremonial magician. Through these respectful interviews, the spirit-marriage practitioners tell their stories of initiation and of having a spouse who is both otherworldly and able to assist in waking- world activities. They offer intimate insight into this growing global practice and its larger evolutionary purpose. We learn about their experiences of first contact, the decision to marry, how the relationship is upheld by their community, and the impact on their other relationships. We also learn about the risks and challenges as well as one example of divorcing a spirit. Sharing her personal experience, the author discusses in detail her own spirit marriage, including the erotic nature of being “spirit filled” and her encounters with her Faery beloved. She explains how to cultivate a spirit marriage, sharing precautions and practices to spiritually prepare yourself, interpret your paranormal encounters, and navigate the potential challenges of spirit marriage. Presenting the first study of the transcultural, shamanistic practice of spirit marriage, this book shows how bonded relationships with spirits are needed now more than ever to assist with spiritual evolution.
Learn how selfless love is the central ingredient in spiritual growth, and discover how to practice it. This third book in The Wisdom of Yogananda series captures the teachers expansive and compassionate wisdom, his sense of fun, and his practical spiritual guidance.
Why does God feel so far away? The reason--and the solution--is in your attachment style. We all experience moments when God's love and presence are tangible. But we also experience feeling utterly abandoned by God. Why? The answer is found when you take a deep look at the other important relationships in your life and understand your attachment style. Through his years working in trauma recovery programs, extensive research into attachment science, and personal experiences with spiritual striving and abuse, licensed therapist Krispin Mayfield has learned to answer the question: Why do I feel so far from God? When you understand your attachment style you gain a whole new paradigm for a secure and loving relationship with God. You'll gain insights about: How you relate to others--both your strengths and weaknesses The practical exercises you can use to grow a secure spiritual attachment to God How to move forward on the spirituality spectrum and experience the Divine connection we all were created for You'll learn to identify and remove mixed messages about closeness with God that you may have heard in church or from well-meaning Christians. With freedom from the past, you can then chart a new path toward intimate connection with the God of the universe.
This book will help you see that love and leadership are not mutually exclusive and learn that without love, you cannot be an effective leader. The one action verb most frequently missing from various manifestos on leadership is love. In Love Leads Dr. Steve Greene shares real-life examples, principles, and exhortations of the love of a leader. You will discover what it looks like to lead with love--is there a process of love? is tough love really love?--and you will view leadership as it's never been seen before as Dr. Greene dispels the myths and misconceptions many have come to accept about leadership. The real-life principles in this book are fully supported throughout by the actions of God who "so loved that He gave...," leading you to see with new insight that the true essence of leadership is love.
In the past, church leaders have turned to small groups or other kinds of discipleship programs to encourage spiritual growth in their churches. Yet despite good intentions, the deeper spiritual life and transformation they had hoped for remained elusive. STIR calls church leaders to reclaim an essential, biblical truth—that the process of spiritual growth is more than a one-size-fits-all program, it happens best through intentional relationships with others in the body of Christ. Three distinct, sequential stages of spiritual development typically occur as people mature in their spiritual walk with Christ, and they need different kinds of relationships to support their growth through those different seasons. STIR describes those stages—learning together, journeying together, and following together—and shows how progress into and through these stages is best made in the context of relationships that change in nature over time. Readers will learn how to intentionally establish and strengthen the unique kinds of relationships that are catalytic for growth at each stage of their journey. Church leaders will come away with a new paradigm for encouraging spiritual formation in their local church by providing appropriate encouragement and support to people at all stages of growth.
