Recommendations based on "The Sacred Romance Drawing Closer to the Heart of God"

The author examines the significance of identifying and rescuing the inner child in terms of recovery, spiritual growth, freedom, and full adult functioning

Many of us find ourselves caught somewhere between unbelieving activists and inactive believers. We can write a check to feed starving children or hold signs in the streets and feel like we've made a difference without ever encountering the faces of the suffering masses. In this book, Shane Claiborne describes an authentic faith rooted in belief, action, and love, inviting us into a movement of the Spirit that begins inside each of us and extends into a broken world.Shane's faith led him to dress the wounds of lepers with Mother Teresa, visit families in Iraq amidst bombings, and dump $10,000 in coins and bills on Wall Street to redistribute wealth. Shane lives out this revolution each day in his local neighborhood, an impoverished community in North Philadelphia, by living among the homeless, helping local kids with homework, and "practicing resurrection" in the forgotten places of our world. Shane's message will comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable . . . but will also invite us into an irresistible revolution. His is a vision for ordinary radicals ready to change the world with little acts of love.

"I am the descendant of drinkers and drifters better at passing on their love for the bottle than family history..." Prepare yourself for an unvarnished, harrowing look at one Christian's life.A powerful memoir of knowing and being known by God through the pain of loss, tragedy, and brokenness—Even in Our Darkness explores what it means to fend off doubt and despair, even in the most painful trials.Jack Deere tells the true story of his life growing up near Fort Worth, Texas in the 1950's and the disintegration of his family following his father's suicide. Despite his difficult childhood and an inclination toward the depression that had crushed his parents, Deere describes how he began to wrestle with Christianity and how "God was...slipping in through the crack of an open wound."In his mid-twenties, Jack rose to fame and success as a leading scholar, popular speaker, and bestselling author. But despite being rescued and exalted, Jack was devastated in the years that followed, losing his troubled son to suicide and his wife to alcoholism. Only then did he fully face his own addictions, surrender control, and experience true healing.An authentic story of the Christian life, Even in Our Darkness is like following an experienced guide through a barren country. Like many believers, Deere has had experiences that nearly destroyed him, and he was shown, by grace, how to overcome life's disappointments and learn to hear God speak in unbelievable ways, despite the darkness that surrounds us."Unmasked, unsettling, and unforgettable . . . this will change the landscape of your soul." —Ann Voskamp, bestselling author of The Broken Way and One Thousand Gifts.

When is the last time you thought about the state of your soul?The health of your soul isn't just a matter of saved or unsaved. It's the hinge on which the rest of your life hangs. It's the difference between deep, satisfied spirituality and a restless, dispassionate faith.In an age of materialism and consumerism that tries to buy its way to happiness, many souls are starved and unhealthy, unsatisfied by false promises of status and wealth. We've neglected this eternal part of ourselves, focusing instead on the temporal concerns of the world-and not without consequence.Bestselling author John Ortberg presents another classic that will help you discover your soul-the most important connection to God there is-and find your way out of the spiritual shallow-lands to true divine depth. With characteristic insight and an accessible story-filled approach, Ortberg brings practicality and relevance to one of Christianity's most mysterious and neglected topics.

You Aren't Alone in Feeling AloneNever in the history of civilization have we been more connected and felt more alone. We are all so lonely. What if the ways we have set up our lives are fundamentally broken?In the Find Your People video Bible study, bestselling author Jennie Allen looks at the original community in Genesis, the Trinity, and the creation of people to see what God had planned for us all along, Jennie offers practical solutions for creating true community in a world that's both more connected and more isolating than ever before.Drawing on fascinating insights from science and history, timeless biblical truth, and vulnerable stories from her own life, Jennie helps us discover exactly how to dive into the deep end and experience the full wonder of community. Along the way, we'll discover the five life patterns required to build deep, connected relationships.You were created to play, engage, adventure, and explore—with others. Because while the ache of loneliness is real, it doesn't have to be your reality.This study guide has everything you need for a full Bible study experience, including: The study guide itself - personal study between sessions, and a Leader's Guide. An individual access code to stream all seven video sessions online (DVD also available separately).Watch on any device!Streaming video access code included. Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2027. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.Designed for use with the Find Your People Conversation Card Deck, sold separately.

"I am grateful to Lewis for having the courage to yell, to doubt, to kick at God in angry violence. This is a part of a healthy grief which is not often encouraged." - Madeline L'Engle?Written with love, humility, and faith, this brief but poignant volume was first published under a pseudonym, as it was considered too raw. Written moment-to-moment as Lewis processed the loss of his wife to cancer, this is more than a mere book on grief, but a visceral hand outstretched in the darkness, a reluctant guide through the "mad midnight moments" of mourning and loss. ?Key learnings that Lewis discusses are:· Pain is instrumental in the process of spiritual growth· Through hardship we often gain the best wisdom· Memories are treasures that will comfort you tomorrowThis work inspired the award-winning film The Shadowlands, starring Anthony Hopkins.? Writing A Grief Observed as "a defense against total collapse, a safety valve," he came to recognize that "bereavement is a universal and integral part of our experience of love." A Grief Observed reminds us that, “Grief is like a long valley, a winding valley where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape.”

Jane Goodall explores her life and personal spiritual odyssey, discussing the lessons she learned as she studied chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe preserve.

An instant New York Times bestsellerTwo spiritual giants. Five days. One timeless question.Nobel Peace Prize Laureates His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have survived more than fifty years of exile and the soul-crushing violence of oppression. Despite their hardships—or, as they would say, because of them—they are two of the most joyful people on the planet.In April 2015, Archbishop Tutu traveled to the Dalai Lama's home in Dharamsala, India, to celebrate His Holiness's eightieth birthday and to create what they hoped would be a gift for others. They looked back on their long lives to answer a single burning question: How do we find joy in the face of life's inevitable suffering?They traded intimate stories, teased each other continually, and shared their spiritual practices. By the end of a week filled with laughter and punctuated with tears, these two global heroes had stared into the abyss and despair of our time and revealed how to live a life brimming with joy.This book offers us a rare opportunity to experience their astonishing and unprecendented week together, from the first embrace to the final good-bye.We get to listen as they explore the Nature of True Joy and confront each of the Obstacles of Joy—from fear, stress, and anger to grief, illness, and death. They then offer us the Eight Pillars of Joy, which provide the foundation for lasting happiness. Throughout, they include stories, wisdom, and science. Finally, they share their daily Joy Practices that anchor their own emotional and spiritual lives.The Archbishop has never claimed sainthood, and the Dalai Lama considers himself a simple monk. In this unique collaboration, they offer us the reflection of real lives filled with pain and turmoil in the midst of which they have been able to discover a level of peace, of courage, and of joy to which we can all aspire in our own lives.

An illuminating example of friendship as a vital way God answers our need for guidance, encouragement, affirmation, and correction.Most of the time, what we need to help us through the struggles in our lives is not the advice of an expert but the wisdom of a friend. Through this series of eloquent letters written to a life-long friend, author Eugene Peterson demonstrates friendship as a means to Christian maturity.The topics covered in this warm and highly personal correspondence are broad and varied, but one thing comes through with constancy and clarity: there is great value in a wise, experienced friend to help us see more clearly and to strengthen our growth in faith and godliness.

Late in 1963, Jane Roberts and her husband were experimenting with a Ouija board when a personality calling himself Seth began forming messages. Soon Miss Roberts began passing easily into trance -- Seth was "borrowing" her body and using it to communicate with the world of the living! Shortly after Miss Roberts completed The Seth Material, the astonishing story of her initiation into psychic experience, Seth began dictating a book of his own. Here, then, is Seth Speaks -- a guide to increased spiritual awareness that was completely written by a personality "no longer focused in physical reality." Now you can join Seth on a voyage inward and through the past; a journey beyond the universe of the five senses into the unseen and unknown. He explains what to expect immediately after death, how to glimpse past lives, ways to contact dead friends and relatives, and exercises to sense the "points" of energy that exist throughout physical matter. Seth shares his troubles as a third century Pope and the first-hand knowledge he has amassed over thousands of years. Church-goers and non-believers alike will be stunned by his reports of Christ, what really happened on Calvary, and the circumstances and date of the Second Coming. He reveals how the Essenes coded the Dead Sea Scrolls . . . why the three lost civilizations preceding Atlantis (including one that managed to function entirely underground) rose and fell . . . how a brotherhood of "Speakers" has worked throughout history to preserve mankind's esoteric knowledge. Seth Speaks is all true, just as Seth dictated it - yet as suspenseful and fascinating as a novel, as provocative as science fiction.