A Grief Observed
Written after his wife’s tragic death as a way of surviving the “mad midnight moment,” A Grief Observed is C. S. Lewis’s honest reflection on the fundamental issues of life, death, and faith in the midst of loss.
The Importance of Being Foolish
Coming from the gentle yet compelling voice of Brennan Manning, The Importance of Being Foolish is a refreshing reminder of the radical call of Jesus and the transforming love of God.
A Glimpse of Jesus
Beloved Christian writer Brennan Manning has long been illuminating the transforming power of God’s constant love for us in his bestselling books. Now he identifies self–hatred as the reason that so many of us seem unable to accept this incredible, unchanging love. By clearly examining and understanding Jesus’ life, we can put self–hatred behind us forever and truly be transformed in the ways God intended.
The Evolution of Faith
Renowned Quaker minister Philip Gulley, bestselling author of If the Church Were Christian, delivers a practical, insightful guide to developing a living, flexible, personal Christianity—a faith that allows you to confront the profound challenges facing every believer in today’s difficult world.
Shame & Grace
If you persistently feel you don’t measure up, you are feeling shame—that vague, undefined heaviness that presses on our spirit, dampens our gratitude for the goodness of life, and diminishes our joy. The good news is that shame can be healed. With warmth and wit, Lewis B. Smedes examines why and how we feel shame, and presents a profound, spiritual plan for healing. Step by step, Smedes outlines the road to well-being and the peace that comes from knowing we are accepted by the grace of One whose acceptance of us matters most.
Intimacy
In his classic work Intimacy, Henry J.M. Nouwen, one of the most beloved spiritual writers of the 20th century, explores the pathway to a more creative and fulfilling intimacy in our relationship with God.
A Letter of Consolation
Beloved author Henri Nouwen reflects on the spiritual significance of death and life in this moving meditation dedicated to “all those who suffer the pain that death can bring and who search for new life.”
Theirs Is the Kingdom
Urban ministry activist Robert Lupton moved into a high crime area of Atlanta intending to bring Christ’s message into the ghetto—but his humbling discovery of a spiritual life already flowering in the city’s urban soil forces the minister to reexamine the deepest parts of his own soul, confronting his own patronizing, materialistic attitudes and the biases he himself held against the urban poor.
Prayer
Bestselling author Richard J. Foster offers a warm, compelling, and sensitive primer on prayer, helping us to understand, experience, and practice it in its many forms—from the simple prayer of beginning again to unceasing prayer. He clarifies the prayer process, answers common misconceptions, and shows the way into prayers of contemplation, healing, blessing, forgiveness, and rest.
Toxic Charity
Veteran urban activist Robert Lupton reveals the shockingly toxic effects that modern charity has upon the very people meant to benefit from it. Toxic Charity provides proven new models for charitable groups who want to help—not sabotage—those whom they desire to serve.
The Pastor
An inspiring memoir of faith, humility, and the joys and struggles of answering God’s call, from the most well-known pastor in the world—Eugene Peterson, translator of the internationally bestselling The Message. In this humble, personal chronicle, Peterson tells the story of how he stumbled into his vocation, and recounts his difficult journey to discover just what being a pastor really means.
Streams of Living Water
In this landmark work, Foster examines the “streams of living water”—the six dimensions of faith and practice that define Christian tradition. He lifts up the enduring character of each tradition and shows how a variety of practices, from individual study and retreat to disciplines of service and community, are all essential elements of growth and maturity. Foster examines the unique contributions of each of these traditions and offers as examples the inspiring stories of faithful people whose lives defined each of these “streams.”
Living the Questions
Bringing together the voices of top Bible scholars and church leaders—including Marcus Borg, Diana Butler Bass, John Dominic Crossan, Helen Prejean, and John Shelby Spong—pastors David Felten and Jeff Procter-Murphy present a lively and stimulating tour of what it means to be a “progressive” Christian. Living the Questions explores matters many churches are afraid to address, including the humanity of Jesus and homosexuality, and examines in a new light traditional faith topics such as the Bible, atonement, salvation, the rapture, and more.
Velvet Elvis
“This book is for those who need a fresh take on Jesus and what it means to live the kind of life he teaches us to live. This pursuit of Jesus is leading us backward as much as forward. . . . I am learning that what seems brand new is often the discovery of something that’s been there all along—it just got lost somewhere and it needs to be picked up, dusted off, and reclaimed.” —from Velvet Elvis
The Spirit of the Disciplines
Dallas Willard, one of today’s most brilliant Christian thinkers and author of The Divine Conspiracy, presents a way of living that enables ordinary men and women to enjoy the fruit of the Christian life. He reveals how the key to self-transformation resides in the practice of the spiritual disciplines, and how their practice affirms human life to the fullest. The Spirit of the Disciplines is for everyone who strives to be a disciple of Jesus in thought and action as well as intention.
Ruthless Trust
In his sequel to The Ragamuffin Gospel, bestselling author Brennan Manning shows how true and radical trust in God can transform our lives.
Made for Goodness
Over the years the same questions get asked of Desmond Tutu, the archbishop, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and veteran of the moral movement that ended apartheid in South Africa: “How can you be so hopeful after witnessing so much evil?” “Why are you so sure goodness will triumph in the end?” This book is his answer. Now, more than any other time in history, our world needs this message: that we are made for goodness and it is up to us to live up to our destiny.
Simply Jesus
“The world’s leading New Testament scholar.” —Newsweek
In the tradition of C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity and his own classic book Simply Christian, N. T. Wright invokes 200 years of Biblical scholarship to show us how we should best retell the story of Jesus today. For believers confronting the challenge of connecting with their faith, Wright offers a provocative new picture of how to understand who Jesus was and how we should relate to him.
Still
In Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis, Lauren Winner describes how experiences of loss and failure unexpectedly slam her into a wall of doubt and spiritual despair. Witty, relatable, and fiercely honest, Winner lays bare her experience of what she calls the “middle” of the spiritual life. In elegant and spare prose, she explores why—in the midst of the overwhelming anxiety, loneliness, and boredom of her deepest questioning about where (or if) God is—the Christian story still explains who she is better than any other story she’s ever known. Still is an absorbing meditation combining literary grace with spiritual wisdom. It is sure to resonate with anyone looking to sustain a spiritual life in the midst of real life.
The Abolition of Man
C. S. Lewis sets out to persuade his audience of the importance and relevance of universal values such as courage and honor in contemporary society.
The Hidden Power of the Gospels
The Hidden Power of the Gospels reveals how the recurring cycles of change, loss, enlightenment, and maturation are illuminated by the Bible’s four gospels. Combining ancient Christian traditions, anthropology, and modern psychology, he reveals how each gospel focuses on a vital spiritual question. Matthew begins with “How do we face change?” Mark faces the hard question of “How do we move through suffering?” John stirs and elevates the soul as he asks, “How do we receive joy?” And Luke moves forward on the practical journey, as he inquires, “How do we mature in service?” By using this lens, the gospels become practical guides for creating faith-filled lives and a map for our never-ending spiritual journey.
Speaking Christian
In a revolutionary argument vital to every person of faith in the English-speaking world, acclaimed Bible scholar Marcus Borg—author of Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time—argues that the very language Christians use has become dangerously distilled, distorted, and disconnected from the beliefs which once underpinned it. Stating a case that will resonate with readers of N. T. Wright’s Simply Christian, Borg calls for a radical change to the language we use to invoke our beliefs—the only remedy that will allow the Church’s words to once again ring with truth, power, and hope.
Naked Spirituality
In the same way he revitalized our faith in A New Kind of Christianity, church leader Brian McLaren reinvigorates our approach to spiritual fulfillment in Naked Spirituality—by tearing down the old dogmatic practices that hamper our spiritual growth, and leading us toward the meaningful spiritual practices that can help transform our lives.
The Greatest Prayer
Every Sunday, the Lord’s Prayer echoes in churches around the world.
It is an indisputable principle of Christian faith. It is the way Jesus taught his followers to pray and distills the most essential beliefs required of every one of the world’s 2.5 billion Christians. In The Greatest Prayer, our foremost Jesus scholar explores this foundational prayer line by line for the richest and fullest understanding of a prayer every Christian knows by heart.
