Practical Religion

Cultural Christians in the Early Church, which aims to be both historical and practical, argues that cultural Christians were the rule, rather than the exception, in the early church. Using different categories of sins as its organizing principle, the book considers the challenge of culture to the earliest converts to Christianity, as they struggled to live on mission in the Greco-Roman cultural milieu of the Roman Empire.

Why is there so much suffering in the world? How should we deal with suffering in our own lives? The Saving Power of Suffering teaches the answers to these questions and more, showing Catholics how to transform trials into triumph. Suffering is not our enemy but a mechanism by which God is able to help us find, accept, and even use our trials for personal and spiritual growth. In this book, Father Jacob Powell discusses how to see suffering through God’s eyes and how to utilize the tools God gives us to remain fervent in the faith and steadfast in the storm.

The sensitive, profound, and rare insights in Alchemy of the Heart help us gain entry into the most precious and misunderstood component of our being: the heart. They show us that while love can be compassionate and nurturing, it can also be powerful, dynamic, and practical, a catalyst for spiritual growth. Drawing on wisdom from the world’s great spiritual traditions, this inspiring guide explores how you can overcome hidden blocks to giving and receiving more love.

Fr. Robert Spitzer, President of Gonzaga University and a highly regarded spiritual teacher and writer, presents a practical, yet rich guide for helping busy people develop a regular and deeper prayer life. Based on many successful retreats and seminars he has given over the years, this brilliant Jesuit priest presents five essential means through which the contemplative and active aspects of our lives can be fused together for a stronger spiritual life.

Abundance is more than money. It is love and wisdom, talents and virtues, money and material goods - whatever we need to fulfill our life’s purpose. With simple wisdom, and spiritual realism, Creative Abundance takes a look at the practical dimensions of abundance. It explores new ways of overcoming hidden blocks to prosperity, new ways of evoking the visionary powers of your imagination, and new ways of catching your dreams, and launching them into reality.

Praised by Newsweek as a "compelling read" and Library Journal as "accessible and down-to-earth", Dale McGowan’s Parenting Beyond Belief offered freethinking parents everywhere a compassionate introduction to raising caring, ethical children without religious guidance. Now, for the more than 40 million people in the United States who identify themselves as nonreligious, Raising Freethinkers offers solutions to the unique challenges secular parents face and provides specific answers to common questions, as well as over 100 activities for both parents and their children.

When building a children’s ministry at a church, there is so much to consider: Which curriculum should we use? How many volunteers do we need? How do we keep parents in the loop? And that’s before we run into stalled check-in computers, missing activity sheets, and floors that need to be vacuumed. Writing from personal ministry experience, Jared Kennedy shares a four-fold approach for gospel-centered, missional children’s ministry: hospitality, teaching, discipleship, and mission.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Thus begins the famous words of Jesus known as the Beatitudes. There are eight such sayings, each beginning with the words, “Blessed are.” Each one of these beatitudes taught everyone in the first century (and still teaches everyone in the twenty-first century) how to be blessed. They might be mistaken for a shopping list for the soul, just a list of eight virtues to pick up before we leave the store. But they’re not. They’re inseparably interwoven.

Let your home nourish your soul and uplift your spirits. Swirl magical botanicals into your cleaning supplies, call fairies into your garden, ask a spider for advice. Clear clutter for clarity, perform the oatmeal cookie ritual for abundance, or make a sweet dreams charm for a good night's sleep.

To know and understand the energy laws of the universe is to know and understand a little more of the mind of our Creator. My purpose in penning this book is to share with you what our family has learned of this metaphysical bridge that connects the spiritual with the mental and physical sides of our lives–a fusion that completes our whole being.

Originally etched on tablets of stone, the 10 Commandments have been the bedrock of righteous living for thousands of years. These commandments, sometimes referred to as the “Ten Words”, can be summarized in two simpler ones, love God, and love your neighbor. In this audiobook, LJ Harry provides us with practical instruction on following these principles today.

As a lifelong entrepreneur, I've learned the importance of putting Jesus at the center of my company. This book outlines why and how you, an entrepreneur, can also reposition how to believe about Jesus and your business. It's more than just a practical guide—it is an inspiration and motivation for a new kind of business, with Jesus at the center. Too often, Christian entrepreneurs and other business leaders ignore the words and actions of Jesus when it comes to their businesses. They embrace Christ in their personal lives but disregard Him at work. It's time to make Jesus your CEO!

In this work, we shall regard as the true phenomena of psychomancy all the various phenomena known as psychometry; crystal gazing; perceiving distant scenes; a perception of past events and indication of future events; either in the full waking state; the state of reverie; or the state of dreams.

A rash of ministry professionals, particularly young ministers, who took their own life prompted me to write this book at this time. It would seem that the clouds of depression had so overwhelmed them they did not see any solution but removing themselves from the equation. The letter at the end reflects on my struggle. Under other circumstances, I might have been one of those statistics. In their most difficult moments, a profession designed to help others was not there to help them or me through the turmoil. I pray that books like this one will stem the tide of this terrible epidemic. The ...

Most of the world is lazy. Too many believers are idle. Few attain their God-given potential. The kingdom suffers because of the too many spectators who are said to be soldiers in the army of the Lord. The loss to God, to the kingdom of God, and to the lazy person that is caused by the sin of laziness is beyond measure. Must things continue that way? I do not think so. Laziness is a deadly sin. The one who commits this sin can be delivered. That is what this book is about. May the Lord bless you as you listen to it! Amen.

If you want to really live the life you know God created for you as an artist in his kingdom, then this book is for you. Unlocking the Heart of the Artist is an invitation to begin a journey of healing and wholeness that will yield deeper spirit-led creativity and personal fulfillment. Through learning practical ways to renew your mind, understand God's plan for your life and art, and engage the holy spirit in their creative process, you will learn how to collaborate with God not only in your chosen artistic medium, but in life.

In Opening to Oneness, Zen teacher Nancy Baker offers a detailed path of practice for Zen students planning to take the precepts and for anyone, Buddhist or non-Buddhist, interested in deepening their personal study of ethical living.

Based on a careful study of Scripture and hundreds of interviews with Christian givers on every populated continent, Cameron Doolittle offers global listeners fresh insight about how to put generosity into practice. Joy Giving compiles the wisdom of the early church and best practices from around the modern world, revealing practical, biblical principles that help us all give more wisely…and with more joy.

If you have suffered spiritual abuse from a toxic church, toxic organization, or toxic leader, your trust has been broken. You entrusted your life to someone you thought would care for you: someone who initially inspired you to know God, only to reject you in the end. Now you are left wounded and disillusioned, wondering if you can ever trust others, yourself, or possibly even God, again.

The Christian life is a battle, but many believers today don't realize their involvement in spiritual warfare. Our secular society, characterized by doubt and spiritual skepticism, leaves many Christians embarrassed even to talk about demonic forces of opposition. In order to awaken Christians to the battle around them and prepare them for it, Robert Smart surveys the terrain, identifies the enemy, and conveys defensive and offensive maneuvers for combating Satan.