Spiritual Friendship

Many of us wish to share a meal, share our faith, and share our lives with others. We want to open our home to friends and neighbors for the sake of meaningful community, but we're overwhelmed with hospitality hang-ups. Our welcome has been influenced by the messages of the world that tell us hospitality is about our ability to be, host, live, and cook a certain way. In Gather & Give, Amy Hannon inspires you to embrace the simple hospitality of the Bible that values connection more than perfection and people more than presentation.

Two years after her husband’s death, Amanda Whittier has two children to raise alone, an abandoned dream of starting a business, and a fixer-upper cottage by the sea. She has no room in her life for anything else and little interest in moving on after losing the man she loved. Paul Grant is a relative newcomer to the area, and his work with former military dogs needing rehabilitation has been good for the town. Though he loved once before, he’s convinced he’s not suited for romance and is determined to find meaning - alone - through his work and role in the community.

When I Am Second launched in 2008, the organization intended simply to tell stories of lives changed utterly by people placing God first and themselves second. Although the organization has exploded in size and influence since, that original mission has remained the same - and continues to have enormous power and influence today.

In The Minister’s Wife, Karen shines a light on the rhythms and tough realities of the spiritual life for each and every one of us. She explores how community helps us grow; the unexpected beauty of doubt; the messy pain of families and funerals; how church can hurt and heal; and the beauty of showing up when sometimes it is more appealing to go to a coffee shop on a Sunday morning (even when you’re the pastor’s wife).

Belinda Bauman was living a comfortable life as a wife, mother, and nonprofit leader - but her soul was checked out. Then she met Esperance. An assault survivor living in one of the poorest, most dangerous countries in the world, Esperance and other Congolese women shared their harrowing stories with Belinda. Their vulnerability set Belinda on a path of embracing empathy. If Esperance could love in the face of so much pain, maybe there is hope for the world, too.

In this updated edition, Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott dig below the surface to the depths of human interactions, offering expert advice and practical tools for improving the most important aspect of human life: Relationships. Designed for college students, young adults, singles, and dating couples, this cutting-edge audiobook teaches the basics of healthy relationships, including friendship, dating, sexuality, and relating to God. Newly updated and expanded to include the latest research on relationship building and vital information on social networking.

Too often our friendships with other women can be marked by drama, competition, betrayal, and unforgiveness. As women, we can cause one another deep pain, creating wounds in need of healing. But we were made for connection and healthy friendships with other women to cheer each other on and fulfill our God-breathed purpose - together.

Many today long for a closer walk with God - a more personal relationship. Amazingly, God desires a personal relationship with every believer. The Holy Spirit of God makes this relationship personal and real. In Friendship with the Holy Spirit: The Revival Relationship, John Van Gelderen shows (from the Scriptures) how to develop a vibrant and personal relationship with the Spirit of Christ.

With the warmth, wisdom, and grace that infuse his works, Father James Martin explains why Jesus' crucifixion and death on the cross is an important teaching moment in the Gospels. Jesus' final statements, words that are deeply cherished by his followers, exemplify the depth of his suffering but also provide a key to his empathy and why we can connect with him so deeply.

Born prematurely, at only 29 pounds, Fiona was not expected to live. But her spunk and determination (along with lots of love and support from her caregivers at the zoo) helped her thrive and become a happy, healthy hippopotamus. With every challenge she faced, Fiona let out a snort, wiggled her ears, and said, "I've got this." And she did!

Do you really want to meet you? Do you want to know what kind of personality you are and how you can benefit enormously from knowing your true identity? Well, then read on! If you do not understand your true identity you will never be happy! Knowing your weak and strong points and your personality type can give you enormous help on most people who think they know everything, but in the end they are lost and very unhappy. Only by discovering yourself will you be much more successful and, above all, much happier! This is why we made this book.

Grace is receiving life from God to become a giver of life to others, and honor is how we give that life to one another. Though grace is manifested in honor, it is honor that invites the power of grace for a testimony of God's glory. These things are known through a face-to-face relationship with God as our friend. Knowing God as our friend will empowers honor and grace to cause us to manifest as God's sons and daughters for the sake of our world.

In what was to become the deadliest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, the Oklahoma City bombing was one in a long line of violent attacks that have left communities across the nation searching for healing and hope. With the soaring message of the power of love to conquer evil, Grace from the Rubble tells the intertwining stories of four captivating individuals

Jeff Deyo invites you into a conversation about worship in an audiobook that was made for anyone seeking to experience the Lord in a deeper way. Shift your perspective on relationship with God from obligation to invitation and rediscover authentic worship that reaches from the secret place to the marketplace.

Mama Jane was a hero! A rock of faith and tenacity, of hope and love, and Chad Norris’ paternal grandmother. She spent her life modeling Christ, loving God and others, and four generations of her family have been eternally impacted because of it. It’s here that we uncover a great secret - that Jesus came to reconnect us to Father, to restore relationship with his children.

Best-selling author Karen Kingsbury delivers another inspiring book in her Treasury of Miracles series. Here, she focuses on the special bonds between friends, and the extraordinary true stories she shares are a testament that God is present in our everyday lives. With God's guidance, we see that good friends never let us down, and often appear just when they are needed most.

We were created to walk and talk with God, but if we cannot hear or understand him well, those conversations are a bit stilted, and good communication is so important to the friendship God offers us. This book explores that friendship and what helps us to develop easy conversations with him. It also looks at the gifts God gives us so we can be a family who help each other to hear, understand, and share his life-giving words.

On average, around 350,000 U.S. students, and nearly one million students worldwide, study abroad every year. Yet since its inception in 1963, only about 73,000 total students from over 1500 colleges and universities have participated in Semester at Sea. It is a truly unique, exclusive, and intimate experience, where students and faculty study, work, and travel to the farthest reaches of the globe.

This Is How We Pray offers a fresh invitation to examine how we pray. This book offers a unique and needed perspective on prayer, inviting you into a more intimate friendship with God. Through personal anecdotes, biblical stories, ancient wisdom, and modern insights from spiritual writers, philosophers, and even cooking documentaries, Adam Dressler walks through the realities we face in the midst of our everyday lives and then reveals how they can direct us toward a deeper friendship with God through our prayers.

The Wisdom On … series is a practical application of wisdom literature and other Scripture on a variety of topics facing students. The series is designed to help students apply biblical principals of wisdom to everyday circumstances using case studies, key Scriptures, interactive activities, and helpful insights.