Download Free Becoming You Cultivating Spiritual Presence Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Becoming You Cultivating Spiritual Presence and write the review.

Bridging meditation, prayer, and presence, Becoming You: Cultivating Spiritual Presence presents an extensive array of 365 week-long methods for cultivating spiritual presence and the many facets of our soul. Offering ways to plumb the extraordinary depths of meditation and prayer, to enrich our daily life through presence, to awaken new perceptions, to develop our soul, and to become fully ourselves, this book brings simplicity of heart and clarity of mind to our spiritual pursuit. Following an arc of generally increasing subtlety, Becoming You cycles through the many aspects of a complete path, carrying us steadily deeper in our quest. Joseph Naft has taught meditation and spiritual practices since 1976. His other books include The Sacred Art of Soul Making: Balance and Depth in Spiritual Practice and two novels, Agents of Peace and Restoring Our Soul.
For much of recent history individuals and institutions could plan, execute, and flourish with their visions of a better world. Volatile, complex forces could be addressed and confronted with planning and management. But crisis is a great revealer. It knocks us off our thrones. It uncovers the weaknesses in our strategies and brings to light our myths and idols. Our past strategies run aground, smashed by unpredictable and chaotic waves. Yet in the midst of the chaos of a crisis comes opportunity. The history of the church tells us that crisis always precedes renewal, and the framework of renewal offers us new ways forward. A Non-Anxious Presence shows how that renewal happens and offers churches and leaders strategic ways to awaken the Church and see our culture changed for Christ.
The Radiant Mountain lies buried deep within us. Fulfillment in life, for those drawn to it, means uncovering and climbing that spiritual mountain as far as we can. Because it is a hidden and unseen territory, an inner world of the spirit, our questions abound. What is the spiritual path and where does it lead? What is presence and how does it relate to spirituality and prayer? How can I develop my presence? How can I deepen my prayer? Bridging meditation, prayer, and presence, The Radiant Mountain presents sequences of week-long methods for cultivating spiritual presence and the many facets of our soul. Offering ways to plumb the extraordinary depths of meditation and prayer, to enrich our daily life through presence, to awaken new perceptions, to develop our soul, and to become fully ourselves, this book brings simplicity of heart and clarity of mind to our spiritual pursuit. Joseph Naft has taught meditation and spiritual practices since 1976. His other books include The Sacred Art of Soul Making: Balance and Depth in Spiritual Practice, Becoming You: Cultivating Spiritual Presence, and two novels, Agents of Peace and Restoring Our Soul.
Picking up on the monastic tradition of creating a "rule of life" that allows for regular space for the practice of spiritual disciplines, Ruth Haley Barton takes you more deeply into understanding seven key spiritual disciplines along with practical ideas for weaving them into everyday life.
The hard work required to make God real, how it changes the people who do it, and why it helps explain the enduring power of faith How do gods and spirits come to feel vividly real to people—as if they were standing right next to them? Humans tend to see supernatural agents everywhere, as the cognitive science of religion has shown. But it isn’t easy to maintain a sense that there are invisible spirits who care about you. In How God Becomes Real, acclaimed anthropologist and scholar of religion T. M. Luhrmann argues that people must work incredibly hard to make gods real and that this effort—by changing the people who do it and giving them the benefits they seek from invisible others—helps to explain the enduring power of faith. Drawing on ethnographic studies of evangelical Christians, pagans, magicians, Zoroastrians, Black Catholics, Santeria initiates, and newly orthodox Jews, Luhrmann notes that none of these people behave as if gods and spirits are simply there. Rather, these worshippers make strenuous efforts to create a world in which invisible others matter and can become intensely present and real. The faithful accomplish this through detailed stories, absorption, the cultivation of inner senses, belief in a porous mind, strong sensory experiences, prayer, and other practices. Along the way, Luhrmann shows why faith is harder than belief, why prayer is a metacognitive activity like therapy, why becoming religious is like getting engrossed in a book, and much more. A fascinating account of why religious practices are more powerful than religious beliefs, How God Becomes Real suggests that faith is resilient not because it provides intuitions about gods and spirits—but because it changes the faithful in profound ways.
As Christians, we know that we are new creations in Jesus. So we try to act differently, hoping this will make us more like Him. But changing our outward behavior doesn’t change our hearts. Only by God’s grace can we be transformed internally. Renovation of the Heart lays a biblical foundation for understanding what best-selling author Dallas Willard calls the “transformation of the spirit”—a divine process that “brings every element in our being, working from inside out, into harmony with the will of God.” This fresh approach to spiritual growth explains the biblical reasons why Christians need to undergo change in six aspects of life: thought, feeling, will, body, social context, and soul. Willard also outlines a general pattern of transformation in each area, not as a sterile formula but as a practical process that you can follow without the guilt or perfectionism so many Christians wrestle with. Don’t settle for complacency. Accept the challenge Renovation of the Heart offers to become an intentional apprentice of Jesus Christ, changing daily as you walk with Him.
Drawing on Jesus's example of walking, bestselling author Mark Buchanan explores one of the oldest spiritual practices of our faith. What happens when we literally walk out our Christian life? We discover the joy of traveling at the speed of our soul. 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 exhorts us to walk in the light, or walk by faith, or walk in truth, it means these things literally as much as figuratively. The Christian faith always involves walking out, as again and again we find the holy in the ordinary. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, and then he was off. The most obvious thing about Jesus's method of discipleship, in fact, is that he walked and invited others to walk with him. Jesus is always "on the way," "arriving," "leaving," "approaching," "coming upon." 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 formation, walking as healing, walking as exercise, walking as prayer, walking as pilgrimage, suffering, friendship, and attentiveness. It is a book about being alongside the God who, incarnate in Jesus, turns to us as he passes by--always on foot--and says simply, "Come, follow me." With practical insight and biblical reflections told in his distinct voice, Buchanan provides specific walking exercises so you can immediately implement the practice of going "God speed." Whether you are walking around the neighborhood or hiking in the mountains, walking offers the potential to awaken your life with Christ as it revives body and soul.
In the twenty years since its publication, Celebration of Discipline has helped over a million seekers discover a richer spiritual life infused with joy, peace, and a deeper understanding of God. For this special twentieth anniversary edition, Richard J. Foster has added an introduction, in which he shares the story of how this beloved and enduring spiritual guidebook came to be. Hailed by many as the best modern book on Christian spirituality, Celebration of Discipline explores the "classic Disciplines," or central spiritual practices, of the Christian faith. Along the way, Foster shows that it is only by and through these practices that the true path to spiritual growth can be found. Dividing the Disciplines into three movements of the Spirit, Foster shows how each of these areas contribute to a balanced spiritual life. The inward Disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and study, offer avenues of personal examination and change. The outward Disciplines of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service, help prepare us to make the world a better place. The corporate Disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration, bring us nearer to one another and to God. Foster provides a wealth of examples demonstrating how these Disciplines can become part of our daily activities-and how they can help us shed our superficial habits and "bring the abundance of God into our lives." He offers crucial new insights on simplicity, demonstrating how the biblical view of simplicity, properly understood and applied, brings joy and balance to our inward and outward lives and "sets us free to enjoy the provision of God as a gift that can be shared with others." The discussion of celebration, often the most neglected of the Disciplines, shows its critical importance, for it stands at the heart of the way to Christ. Celebration of Discipline will help motivate Christians everywhere to embark on a journey of prayer and spiritual growth.
Pastor and author N. Graham Standish describes how a church that is open to God's purpose, presence, and power can claim God's blessing. Standish shares the story of Calvin Presbyterian Church in Zelienople, Pennsylvania, and its journey to become a spiritually deep congregation, one that is inwardly and outwardly healthy: spiritually, psychologically, physically, and relationally. Becoming a Blessed Church will help you discern God's purpose and the path God is calling your congregation to walk. This book will help you find Christ in your midst and become aware of the many ways the blessings of God's Spirit flow through your congregation.