A quarterly subscription service, Field Guides for the Way is for creative contemplatives and ANYONE who wants to encounter God in a fresh way in everyday life. Built around the truth that a life of faith is a beautiful adventure, each kit is an invitation into a deeper, more intimate journey with Jesus. The Field Guides themselves are beautifully written. The tools that accompany the guide make opening each box a bit like Christmas morning. If you’re ready to take a “step toward God, toward your soul, toward wholeness and renewal,” this thoughtfully designed resource is a wonderful companion along the way.
C.S. Lewis said, “Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.” MIW is a spiritual formation-based blog aimed at helping moms nurture an intimate love relationship with Jesus in their children through curiosity, creativity and consistency. The articles are practical, accessible and helpful for parents who desire to live at Godspeed and sow the Jesus life into their kids. Check it out for FREE at mostimportantwork.com
Adapted from talks given by Dallas Willard and John Ortberg at the Knowing Christ Today conference in California, Living in Christ’s Presence is rich with spiritual insight and wisdom. The DVD or audiobook version features a lightly edited live recording of the conference that is so engaging you’ll listen to it over and over again. John Ortberg’s talk on The Importance of Spiritual Disciplines and the ensuing conversation with Dallas Willard on the topic is certainly worth your attention. And Dallas Willard’s closing remarks on blessing others and God is a thoughtful way to bring the discussion on life in the kingdom of God to a close.
This entire book gives the reader encouragement and permission to enter into a regular time of retreat and rest. The author, Ruth Haley Barton, notes the sources of our exhaustion and then goes on to give examples of what retreat might look like, as every person is different, and the ways we rest and restore ourselves are different, too.
Writing about this book by Jan Johnson, author Brennan Manning called it “a well-written and finely constructed introduction to the prayer of simple regard.” Author James Bryan Smith wrote, “The best recommendation anyone can give to any how-to book is this: It makes you long to do it yourself. That was certainly the case for me when I finished When the Soul Listens. It made me yearn for a deeper, wider and more consistent practice of contemplative prayer in my own life.” I (Mark Warner) couldn’t agree more. I listened to this wonderfully practical book while traveling on sabbatical and was moved by how accessible it is. The practice of Contemplative or Abiding Prayer is a central practice of Christian Spiritual Formation and Jan Johnson does a wonderful job of inviting the reader into a different kind of life with God.
Developed for use in the local church, DGRLM includes 8 sermon outlines, a 50-day devotional, 7 small groups videos with discussion guides and a graphics and promotion package. The devotional was written by and the small group videos feature author Larry Warner. The whole package is available through the Vineyard Digital Membership.
The introduction of this thoughtfully developed 15-month devotional guide from Renovaré says, “As followers of Jesus, we want to pour out our lives for others. This is a good and beautiful thing. However, if we are not continually replenished by ‘living water,’ we will end up drained, dry, and exhausted.” We’ve all been there, struggling with our tendency to be a human doing instead of a human being, keeping company with Jesus Christ. Bernard of Clairvaux captured it well when he wrote, “If then you are wise, you will show yourself rather as a reservoir than as a canal. A canal spreads abroad water as it receives it, and a reservoir waits until it is filled before overflowing, and thus without loss to itself communicates its superabundant water. In the Church at the present day we have many canals and few reservoirs.”
The Reservoir, presenting 5 brief weekly readings, a suggested Scripture text for meditation and wonderfully probing questions will help you drink the living water Jesus promised so you can become a person who lives out of the overflow.
