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Perfect for use during Advent or Lent, these volumes includes passages from Scripture and opportunities for reflection and prayer.

* A straight forward process that helps congregations reclaim Lutheran traditions for the 21st century

The goal of this book, says author Charles Lane, is to perform a dramatic rescue of stewardship, freeing it from any connection whatsoever to "paying the bills." When the Bible talks about stewardship it almost always talks about the intimate connection between how a person handles financial matters and that person's relationship with God. Stewardship is an intensely spiritual matter that lies close to a disciple's relationship with Jesus. The book is designed especially for use in congregational planning and study. Congregational stewardship leaders will come back to three foundational verbs - ask, thank, tell - over and over as they help individuals experience the joy of giving generously. The author makes the convincing case that there is little in life today that can help a disciple grow in relationship with Jesus more than a solid intentional biblical stewardship.

Based on a study sponsored by Lutheran Men in Mission, the writers interviewed a cross-section of young men on eleven factors to determine how these factors affected spiritual development and the interaction of faith and life. The book reveals what the interviews uncovered, and the authors analyze what this might mean for ministry to and with young men today. The factors studied were relationships, male mentors, crisis, time management, work, the power of defining moments, nature, sports, spiritual hunger, service, and avocation. Each factor is then explored in depth in order to help young men and those who engage in mentoring them in dialogue about the factors that make for meaning, identity, and spirituality.

Why do men rarely invest time and effort building intentional and mutually supportive friendships? How can men create meaningful friendships? David Bentall explores the experience of three men who have supported each other in friendship for more than twelve years. He chronicles how friendships can inspire, challenge, and have the potential to transform lives. He provides suggestions for initiating long-term, nurturing friendships. Most importantly, Bentall describes the tremendous benefits such friendships have on all areas of a person's life, including family relationships, physical fitness, self-esteem, and spirituality.

The discovery of true joy, says Joe Campeau, begins not by breaking out of the daily grind, but by learning to recognize a joy that is already at hand. Written in an easy conversational style, the author includes compelling personal stories, and illustrates his message by using stories of minor and even anonymous characters from the Gospels. This book nourishes the reader's faith in the place where it matters most - the familiarity of their daily environment.

Bacher and Inskeep believe that mainline denominations serve as caretakers of the important American expressions of Christianity, and if they are weak or lost, society and the universal church will be the worse for it.

Unlike other morning devotions, in which readers digest the words of others, this book teaches readers how to create their own devotional experiences through silence and prayer visualization.

In this book, Finck provides a step-by-step guide to forty stretches, movements, and postures to improve physical and spiritual well-being. The book features photographs and devotional reflections for individuals to use to create their own routines.While on a pilgrimage trek through Thailand, Finck discovered the benefits of daily stretching and quiet prayer. On the physical level, after only one week, the chronic back pain that had plagued him for twenty years disappeared. On a spiritual level, the poses deepened his prayer experiences.

A nationally recognized expert in the field of domestic violence and teen relationship violence explores the complex issue of teen-dating violence. Through interviews and other research, Miles provides critical information that parents, caregivers, clergy, and educators can use to protect teens and help them foster healthy dating relationships.

Helps readers understand the spiritual benefits of waiting such as patience, loss of control, live in the present, compassion, gratitude, humility, and trust in God. This book provides spiritual exercises and questions for personal reflection, and includes a retreat design.

In a series of engaging essays and responses, the book explores how evangelism has functioned within Lutheranism historically and articulates a Lutheran theological perspective on evangelism within the broader developments in mission theology over the past several decades. It further helps to show how evangelism from a Lutheran perspective may be differentiated from other theologies of evangelism that are part of the Christian movement in our day. The book moves from theory to practice as it relates this theology of evangelism to the life of congregations that are seeking to proclaim the gospel in the emerging postmodern context, provides congregations with perspectives on how to utilize this theology in shaping the practice of evangelism within their church life. A study guide to encourage group discussion and reflection is included. Other contributors: Wyvetta Bullock Kelly Fryer Craig Nessan J. Paul Rajashekar

Signs of Belonging: Luther's Marks of the Church and the Christian Life explores Luther's teaching on the seven marks of the church: possession of the Word, Baptism, Sacrament of the Altar, Office of the Keys, Office of Ministry, Discipleship, and the cross (suffering on account of one's faith). How do these "marks" define the corporate body of Christ and connect with the lives of individual Christians?

The author of "Executive Values: A Christian Approach to Organizational Leadership" sets forth a biblically based, empirically proven framework that will help believers find significance in their daily work; balance in their family life; and improved physical, mental, and spiritual health.

This practical and inspiring book written by the former U.S. senator from Illinois and 1988 presidential candidate--who passed away in December 2003 at the age of 75--reminds readers that the little things do count, and offers concrete suggestions for small ways of making a difference.

Cradled All the While is a beautifully crafted memoir in which the author recounts the story of her mother's death from cancer. In the midst of career and child-rearing, Corse becomes her mother's primary caregiver, but her story is a spiritual journey that will nurture the faith of people of many religious backgrounds. The themes encountered throughout the book parallel the issues dealt with in practical grieving resources; here, however, they are played out in the lives of a real family.

An active pastor, husband, father, and triathlete, Robert F. Molsberry was left paraplegic following a near fatal hit and run accident in 1997. After a long period of recovery and rehabilitation, he has returned to an active life including family, ministry, and athletics. The book reflects on his experience of disability not as a medical condition in search of a cure, nor as a tragedy to be pitied, but as a cross-cultural adventure similar to learning to live in a foreign country. Molsberry also offers biblical and theological reflection that confronts the Bible's ancient worldview regarding disability rather than deserved punishment or opportunity for miraculous cure, he explores biblical texts that see disability as an occasion for radical hospitality and inclusion.