Discussions about the Sabbath often center around moralistic laws and arguments over whether a person should be able to play cards or purchase liquor on Sundays. In this volume, popular author Walter Brueggemann writes that the Sabbath is not simply about keeping rules but rather about becoming a whole person and restoring a whole society. Importantly, Brueggemann speaks to a 24/7 society of consumption, a society in which we live to achieve, accomplish, perform, and possess. We want more, own more, use more, eat more, and drink more. Keeping the Sabbath allows us to break this restless cycle and focus on what is truly important: God, other people, all life. Brueggemann offers a transformative vision of the wholeness God intends, giving world-weary Christians a glimpse of a more fulfilling and simpler life through Sabbath observance.
ECPA BESTSELLER • A compelling emotional and spiritual case against hurry and in favor of a slower, simpler way of life “As someone all too familiar with ‘hurry sickness,’ I desperately needed this book.”—Scott Harrison, New York Times best-selling author of Thirst “Who am I becoming?” That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer. Outwardly, he appeared successful. But inwardly, things weren’t pretty. So he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words: “Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life.” It wasn’t the response he expected, but it was—and continues to be—the answer he needs. Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause. A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry, or busyness, as a root of much evil. Within the pages of this book, you’ll find a fascinating roadmap to staying emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world.
A Study Guide and a Teacher’s Manual Gospel Principles was written both as a personal study guide and as a teacher’s manual. As you study it, seeking the Spirit of the Lord, you can grow in your understanding and testimony of God the Father, Jesus Christand His Atonement, and the Restoration of the gospel. You can find answers to life’s questions, gain an assurance of your purpose and self-worth, and face personal and family challenges with faith.
Four views of the Sabbath commandment (Seventh-day, Fulfillment, Christian Sabbath, and Lutheran) are presented by scholars in point-counterpoint style to determine which is most faithful to Scripture.
General Women's Session Filling Our Homes with Light and Truth By Cheryl A. Esplin The Family Is of God By Carole M. Stephens The Family is Ordained of God The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Defenders of the Family Proclamation By Bonnie L. Oscarson The Comforter By President Henry B. Eyring Saturday Morning Session “Is Not This the Fast That I Have Chosen?” By President Henry B. Eyring The Plan of Happiness By President Boyd K. Packer We’ll Ascend Together By Linda K. Burton The Parable of the Sower By Elder Dallin H. Oaks Choose to Believe By Elder L. Whitney Clayton Why Marriage and Family Matter—Everywhere in the World By Elder L. Tom Perry Saturday Afternoon Session The Sustaining of Church Officers Presented by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf Church Auditing Department Report, 2014 Presented by Kevin R. Jergensen Statistical Report, 2014 Presented by Brook P. Hales Therefore They Hushed Their Fears By Elder David A. Bednar Why Marriage, Why Family By Elder D. Todd Christofferson The Music of the Gospel By Elder Wilford W. Andersen Latter-day Saints Keep on Trying By Elder Dale G. Renlund Truly Good and without Guile By Elder Michael T. Ringwood The Lord Is My Light By Elder Quentin L. Cook General Priesthood Session The Greatest Generation of Young Adults By Elder M. Russell Ballard Yes, We Can and Will Win! By Elder Ulisses Soares Fatherhood—Our Eternal Destiny By Larry M. Gibson On Being Genuine By President Dieter F. Uchtdorf Priesthood and Personal Prayer By President Henry B. Eyring The Priesthood—a Sacred Gift By President Thomas S. Monson Sunday Morning Session Blessings of the Temple By President Thomas S. Monson Returning to Faith By Rosemary M. Wixom Seeking the Lord By Elder José A. Teixeira Is It Still Wonderful to You? By Bishop Gérald Caussé Waiting for the Prodigal By Elder Brent H. Nielson Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland The Gift of Grace By President Dieter F. Uchtdorf Sunday Afternoon Session Preserving Agency, Protecting Religious Freedom By Elder Robert D. Hales Stay by the Tree By Elder Kevin W. Pearson The Eternal Perspective of the Gospel By Elder Rafael E. Pino Thy Kingdom ComeBy Elder Neil L. Andersen If You Will Be Responsible By Elder Jorge F. Zeballos Be Fruitful, Multiply, and Subdue the Earth By Elder Joseph W. Sitati The Sabbath Is a Delight By Elder Russell M. Nelson
If following Jesus involves a life of sacrifice and suffering, is it wrong for a Christian to seek purpose and joy in this world? Many Christians sense a tension between their desire to enjoy life in this world—the beauty of God’s creation, the rich love of deep relationships with others—and the reality that this world is fallen and broken, in need of redemption. How can we embrace and thrive in the tension between enjoying creation and promoting redemption? By living out our God-given purpose. As “worldly saints,” created in the image of God, we are natural creatures with a supernatural purpose—to know and love God. Because we live in a world that is stained by the curse of sin, we must learn to embrace our nature as creatures created in the image of God while recognizing our desperate need for the grace that God offers to us in the gospel. Writing in a devotional style that is theologically rich, biblically accurate, and aimed at ordinary readers, Mike Wittmer helps readers understand who they are, why they are here, and the importance of the story they tell themselves. In Becoming Worldly Saints, he gives an integrated vision that shows how we can be heavenly minded in a way that leads to earthly good, empowering believers to seize the abundant life God has for them.
This tender and moving memoir by the great Yiddish writer Chaim Grade takes us to the very source of his widely praised novels and poems—the city of Vilna, the "Jerusalem of Lithuania," during the years before World War II. Centered on the figure of Grade's mother, Vella—simple, pious, hard-working—this is a richly detailed account of the ghetto of his youth, of the lives of the rabbis, the wives, the tradesmen, the peddlers, and the scholars. We see Vella, desperate after losing her husband, become a fruit-peddler, struggling to survive poverty and to remain true to her faith in the face of human pettiness and cruelty. We follow Grade as he walks in the footsteps of his scholar father, a champion of enlightenment; we see him entering marriage, and his mother finding some peace of mind in a marriage of her own—all of this in a world recalled with extraordinary physical and emotional intensity. Then, World War II. The partition of Poland between the Soviet Union and Germany is followed by the new German invasion of June 1941. Grade—believing, as do so many others, that the Nazis pose a danger chiefly to able-bodied men like himself—flees into Russia. In his travels on foot and by train he meets a fascinating, kaleidoscopic array of characters: the disillusioned Communist Lev Kogan; the durachok, or simpleton, a young prisoner who, mistaken for a German spy, is shot when he jumps from a train; the once-prosperous lawyer, Orenstein, who virtually becomes a beggar, dies and is buried by strangers in a remote Central Asian village. With the war's end, Grade returns to Vilna—to find the ghetto in ruins, to learn that his wife and his mother have gone to their deaths—and he is left with nothing but memories. But it is here, amid the devastation of a people, that he finds the compulsion and the passion to commit to paper the world that has been lost.
Let's face it: our times of rest need work. And God calls us to rest, and even shows us through his own example. With collected insights from sabbath keepers of all ages and backgrounds, Lynne M. Baab offers a practical and hopeful guidebook that encourages all of us to slow down and enjoy our relationship with the God of the universe.
Should Christians keep the Sabbath? Many today believe that we should. However, it is often said that the Sabbath was repealed or changed in the New Testament. What does the New Testament actually say about Sabbath observance for Christians? David Wilber takes readers back to the Scriptures to discover the answer to this question. In this book, you will learn what the New Testament says about this sacred day of rest and why it matters to Christians.
