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Everything that has happened to you has prepared you for your greatest days ahead. When you understand the patterns of God's work in each season of your life, you can see His faithfulness in making all things work together for the good of His children.What if everything that has happened to you has prepared you for your greatest work? What if those confusing, uncomfortable seasons when you felt like you were walking in circles were actually the path God was leading you on to fulfill the destiny He has planned for you?Connecting the Dots helps you make sense of your life, seeing each day as part of an epic that God is writing. Joël Malm shows you how to detect God's work in each season, keeping your eyes lifted to Him who makes all things work together for the good of those who love him.

Chaplaincy. Pastoral care. Ministry. The care of souls. What lies beneath that which lies beneath them? Like Virgil, chaplain Stephen Faller guides an unusual tour winding through personal disclosure about ministry, adoption, chaplaincy, and disability. Contextualized within chaplaincy and clinical pastoral education, Faller examines these'visions from a little-known country.'Within the landscape are the sights of living in a post-9/11 world as they prefigure the change and uncertainty that marked American life and ministry after the pandemic of 2020. A conclusion to'a dialectical inquiry at the end of the world,'Faller explores the history of philosophy and religion in order to navigate an already unusual life within strange times. Essential reading for chaplains, and helpful insights for all those within the helping professions. As ministry continues to move beyond the surrounding walls of the institutional building, Faller suggests that chaplaincy can be a meaningful space for ordained ministry as one of the great'spaces between spaces.'Moreover, this confessor's confession spells a way for storytellers and story collectors to find direction when meaning is lost. Chaplaincy itself is a meaningful response to a world turned upside down.

'Spiritual mentoring advice inspired by the writings and life of renowned priest and author Henri Nouwen'--

What expectations did the women and men living in early monastic communities carry into relationships of obedience and advice? What did they hope to achieve through confession and discipline? To explore these questions, this study shows how several early Christian writers applied the logic, knowledge, and practices of Galenic medicine to develop their own practices of spiritual direction. Evagrius reads dream images as diagnostic indicators of the soul's state. John Cassian crafts a nosology of the soul using lists of passions while diagnosing the causes of wet dreams. Basil of Caesarea pits the spiritual director against the physician in a competition over diagnostic expertise. John Climacus crafts pathologies of passions through demonic family trees, while equipping his spiritual director with a physician's toolkit and imagining the monastic space as a vast clinic. These different appropriations of medical logic and metaphors not only show us the thought-world of late antique monasticism, but they would also have decisive consequences for generations of Christian subjects who would learn to see themselves as sick or well, patients or healers, within monastic communities.

God is a doer of great things. Isn't it time you joined His big plans?Human ambition is often rooted in pride. But “holy ambition”? That's something else! When your ambitions aren't about your own glory but God's, you'll find Him to be a source of empowerment that you can't get anywhere else.Pastor and radio teacher Chip Ingram invites you into something more daring than your current life. Holy Ambition takes you to the biblical story of Nehemiah, a humble servant of the king who became a leader of his people. Nehemiah could have kept his comfortable position in the palace, but instead he chose a radical path that allowed him to do amazing things for God. You can too! But you're going to have to take some risks. And that means you've got to put aside fear or pride and start acting on your holy ambitions.It's time for the church to be what God wants: a people who will let Him do a powerful work in them and through them. No more living in the boring middle. Start living on the edge of God's groundbreaking work, and experience the exuberance of being on mission for Him!

Have you ever wondered what releasing spiritual potential in the workplace might do for your organization? In today's climate of colossal and incredibly fast global change, the world needs new ways to develop discerning leaders to consciously lead our community of life into the future. Though there are many books on leadership, they rarely engage the importance and relevance of spiritual development and spiritual accompaniment in organizational discernment and leadership development. Spiritual formation through spiritual direction has the potential to transform the way we lead organizations in secular and religious settings. Drawing on the wisdom and experience of leaders and spiritual directors, this book, first, broadens our understanding of how spiritual direction can be a resource for leadership and organizational development; second, supports spiritual directors in developing their corporate practice and their understanding of the relevance of spiritual direction for a wider community.

Incline Your Ear: Cultivating Spiritual Awakening in Congregations introduces faith communities and individuals to the centuries-old principles and practices of spiritual direction. Spiritual direction, as Chad R. Abbott and Teresa Blythe practice and teach it, emphasizes four aspects of the faith journey: becoming more aware of the presence of the Holy in our daily lives, reflecting on that awareness and deepening our relationship with God, discerning where God is leading, and sharing our spiritual gifts with the world.Abbott and Blythe also share simple ways to evaluate the outcomes of spiritual awakening:'fruits of the Spirit.'As a middle judicatory minister and spiritual director who work with clergy, lay leaders, and congregations around issues of spiritual life and energy, the authors long for churches to become vital spiritual communities that meet the needs of people right where they are. They strive to nurture congregations where pastors don't have to do it all; where members are equipped to share their gifts with one another; where leaders rest easy, knowing the board has discerned the vision well; and where all discover the rich array of spiritual food Christianity serves. In these complex and confusing times, the authors extend to us an invitation and hope:'Incline your ear... that you may live.'As communities of faith study and experience Incline Your Ear together, they will find new ways to be in love with God and listen to the Spirit.

What happens when we literally walk out our Christian life? Drawing on Jesus'lived example of walking, pastor and bestselling author Mark Buchanan explores one of the oldest spiritual practices of our faith.We often act as if faith is only about the mind. But what about our bodies? What does our physical being have to do with our spiritual life? When the Bible calls us to walk in the light, walk by faith, or walk in truth, it means these things literally as much as figuratively.The most obvious thing about Jesus'method of discipleship, in fact, is that he walked and invited others to walk with him. It's in the walking that his disciples are taught, formed, tested, empowered, and released.Part theology, part history, part field guide, God Walk explores:Walking as spiritual formationWalking as healingWalking as exerciseWalking as prayerWalking as pilgrimageWith practical insight and biblical reflections told in his distinct voice, Buchanan gives you the tools and encouragement you need to immediately implement the practice of living at God's speed.Praise for God Walk:'In this beautiful, inspiring book, Mark shows us how the simple rhythm of walking can take us farther on the path of wholeness, joy, and God than we imagined possible. Poetic, poignant, and immensely practical, this book will change your life... one step at a time.'--Ken Shigematsu, pastor, Tenth Church, Vancouver; bestselling author, Survival Guide for the Soul

Die Geistliche Begleitung ist so alt wie die Kirche selbst und antwortet auf das universelle menschliche Grundbedürfnis nach Ratschlag und Weisung durch einen spirituell erfahrenen Mitmenschen. In den vergangenen 2000 Jahren haben daher geistbegabte Männer und Frauen diverse Modelle entwickelt, die als exemplarische Leitbilder bzw. Ordnungsrahmen für die Ausübung dieses Dienstes am Mitmenschen herangezogen werden können. Die vorliegende Studie setzt sich mit vier grundlegenden Modellen Geistlicher Begleitung auseinander, insbesondere in Hinblick auf die seelsorgerische Praxis der Gegenwart.

Presented by Mercy Center, a leading spiritual direction program in the United States, this handbook addresses questions asked by every spiritual direction trainer about how to present key topics. It also provides guidance for individual seekers looking to further their own spiritual growth. Contributors include such luminaries as Mary Ann Scofield, Jim Neafsey, Don Bisson, Jim Keegan SJ, Bill Creed SJ, Lucy Abbott Tucker, Maria Bowen, Joe Driskill, and Jim Bowler. Topics include contemplative listening, discernment, the wisdom of the body, ethics, male and female perspectives, sexuality, and prayer. Each contribution features reflection questions and suggestions for further reading.

A comprehensive resource for understanding the various components of spiritual direction.Early mystics of the Near East and northern Africa created the monastic traditions and were the first psychologists, exploring various practices to test the human capacity. In medieval times, spiritual direction was common in the Roman Catholic monastic traditions. It extended significantly into Protestant Christianity in the late twentieth century by predominantly white and affluent organizations. Spiritual direction has progressively become a global, multi-religious and interfaith practice. This book is a comprehensive and concise text from a spiritual director of color, offering inclusive resources and tools to spiritual directors of many faiths and for people of diverse cultures and traditions. Core skills such a deep listening, hospitality, and discernment are presented with cutting-edge lessons on internal liberation, systemic trauma, and imaginative discovery. Spiritual direction is taught by more than 100 educational institutions and spirituality centers in the US alone, but typical curriculum generally does not reflect current cultural reality and growing diversity. This is a textbook for anyone who studies spiritual direction as both preparation for and deepening of their calling.

This book is a collection of short reflections on mentoring and discipleship in honor of Scott M. Gibson. Gibson says:'The missing ingredient in the Church today is discipleship.'This book casts a vision for all believers for what mentoring and discipleship can look like in the local church, in Bible colleges and seminaries, and in Christian friendships. We hope that you will be inspired by Scott M. Gibson's example to be selfless and intentional about mentoring and discipling others. Gibson desires to see a multiplying effect of true mentorship and discipleship rippling across congregations in North America and around the globe. He has spent his life prioritizing discipleship because he wants to look more and more like his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and he wants the same for others. Read this book and be moved to serve as a mentor and to make disciples.

What is the call of God?

No hay mejor guía que san Ignacio de Loyola para descubrir la manera en que la fe y la vida cotidiana pueden prosperar juntas. En La aventura ignaciana, Kevin O'Brien, SJ, siguiendo la guía de san Ignacio, ofrece a las personas de hoy, siempre escasas de tiempo, una forma única de “hacer” los Ejercicios Espirituales en la vida diaria. Si bien el libro comienza con información general, que incluye un breve recorrido por la vida de san Ignacio, su enfoque son las 32 semanas de oración y meditaciones que llevan a los participantes hacia un encuentro más profundo con Dios. Pero lo que realmente distingue a este libro de otros retiros ignacianos en la vida diaria (decimonovena anotación) es la forma en que O'Brien entreteje en las páginas sus propias experiencias personales de vivir los Ejercicios Espirituales en el día a día. Sus conmovedoras historias permiten ver con facilidad la manera en que los Ejercicios se entrelazan con el mundo real.La aventura ignaciana es un recurso ideal para los directores espirituales, pero su estilo práctico y fácil de seguir lo convierten en el libro perfecto para cualquier persona que busque entender mejor la espiritualidad ignaciana o tener una vida de oración más profunda.