In this expanded edition of her spiritual formation classic, Ruth Haley Barton invites us to an honest exploration of what happens when spiritual leaders lose track of their souls. Weaving together contemporary illustrations with penetrating insight from the life of Moses, Barton explores topics such as facing the loneliness of leadership, leading from your authentic self, reenvisioning the promised land and more.
You always deserve your self-worth. And you deserve it because you are a creature of God, His creation. Because God loves you and the whole heaven watches over you, takes care of you and gives you importance. Even if no one calls you on the phone for a whole day, even if no one speaks to you, there is a tremendous power inside you. You have value and personality. You are a unique being and there is no one like you anywhere on earth. No one is like you, no one has your traits, your gifts and talents, but on the other hand, no one has your problems, your peculiarities and your character in general. You are who you are and you have your own value. Jesus loves you and gives you importance. He wants to strengthen you. How can this be done? With all the ups and downs. One moment you feel that you have Christ and the next you feel you are losing Him. He comes and goes. This is exactly what His disciples felt after the Resurrection, when, desperate and lost in their thoughts, they were walking towards Emmaus. As soon as they had just started feeling their heart aflame for Him, He had shared the bread with them, but as soon as they had started understanding the Lord, He once more went away from them. Why? To make them stronger. He only left a sweet sensation in their soul, warmth, faith and power. To make them believe, to touch and to feel the invisible as present. To make them feel that they hold the One who goes away but leaves behind Him His fragrance, His sweetness, His zeal and the yearning for Him. Christ wants us to love Him, but without having the feeling of certainty that we hold Him. He does not want to give us certainty, but leaves us suspended where we can experience the most exciting flights; make the most beautiful patterns in the sky of His love, and in the sea of life where we are swimming in its waves. You may think that you don’t know where you are going in this vast ocean. Then He tells you: -"Let the wind carry you away", -"But I have no compass. I feel I have nothing", -"Just give in and something good will come out of it". The proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated for the completion of the Church of "Panagia Galaxa, Thalassokratousa".
We've all been let down by so-called community. Why is it so hard for us to connect and grow together for the long haul? Veteran spiritual director Ruth Haley Barton helps us get personal and practical about experiencing transformation together. This interactive guide allows us to grow through and by the experience of transforming community.
Few pastors or Christian writers have dared to approach the subject of how proper eating and an active lifestyle can affect how we serve God. Author Gary Thomas does just that. And he reaches all the way back to the apostle Paul, who wrote that we need to prime our bodies to become, "an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work." To illustrate the body/soul correlation, Thomas presents engaging and diverse stories that include a young mom who got fit through volleyball and reaped spiritual rewards in her marriage, a 300-pound pastor who realized his obesity was eroding his ministry impact, and a woman who gained the spiritual strength to survive a contentious divorce by training for a marathon. In every instance, Thomas makes a direct connection between the physical challenge and its spiritual consequence.This book is a must read for anyone seeking new and compelling motivation for strengthening their bodies and fortifying their souls.
Have you ever asked yourself what changed when you were "born again?" You look in the mirror and see the same reflection - your body hasn't changed. You find yourself acting the same and yielding to those same old temptations - that didn't seem to change either. So you wonder, Has anything really changed? The correct...
You've heard it all before. The promises for a better life get tiresome after awhile, because you know they don't deliver. However, they do touch on a profound and inescapable truth. You were created to live your life out of a rewarding, richly textured relationship with God and others--and deep down, you long to experience that kind of life. But how? Are you willing to devote sixty days to finding out? Soul Revolution may be one of the most important books you'll ever read. In it, author and pastor John Burke guides you on a journey of experiential discovery. Called the "60-60 Experiment," it has already made a profound impact on thousands who have discovered what it means to actually "do life" with God.
Life Is Never Mainly About Love and Marriage. So Learn to Live and Date for More. Many of you grew up assuming that marriage would meet all of your needs and unlock God's purposes for you. But God has far more planned for you than your future marriage. Not Yet Married is not about waiting quietly in the corner of the world for God to bring you "the one," but about inspiring you to live and date for more now. If you follow Jesus, the search for a spouse is no longer a pursuit of the perfect person, but a pursuit of more of God. He will likely write a love story for you different than the one you would write for yourself, but that's because he loves you and knows how to write a better story. This book was written to help you find real hope, happiness, and purpose in your not-yet-married life.
The journey of faith can be risky and overwhelming. Yet we join up, knowing that with the challenge comes excitement, the sense of being fully alive, and the extremity of living a life completely sold out to Jesus. And our goal is to become spiritually strong enough to stand till the end. Author and teacher Ben Patterson calls you to develop muscular faith—the faith of a Jesus follower whose heart, soul, mind, and time are committed to a cause of supreme worth. Through biblical insight and wisdom, you’ll be equipped for the only fight that matters—doing the work of God against the snares and temptations of this world. You’ll build up your spiritual muscles on the hard road to glory . . . and become stronger than you ever knew you could be.
When we choose retreat we make a generous investment in our friendship with Christ. Seasoned spiritual director Ruth Haley Barton gently and eloquently leads us into an exploration of retreat as a key practice that opens us to God, guiding us through seven invitations to retreat. You will discover how to say yes to God's winsome invitation to greater freedom and surrender.
In Soul Strength, Dr. Alan Ahlgrim explores twelve principles that will help you experience deeper relationships than ever before and, in the process, discover the secret to creating the kind of growth and transformation you crave. The missing element in spiritual transformation for many-even for many in Christian leadership-is life with the right people. Whether you are an established church leader or a brand-new believer, you'll learn: - Why people need to hear your story - The difference between living heart strong and head strong - How to solve the "Am I good enough?" dilemma - Why authenticity is foundational to soul strength - How to manage toxic people in your life - The five things common to life-giving relationships Personal transformation isn't a destination, it's a journey-one you can't take alone.
