James scott smith, Author of Water, Rocks and Trees. Joy roulier sawyer, author of Tongues of Men and Angels It is rare to be called home and onward in the same moment. In doing so, the old way becomes a true way onward, home. In the jubilee, poet john Blase naturalizes human faith so real as to transcend any hint of cultural affectation.

In plain-speak reminiscent of william stafford or Jim Harrison, John Blase traverses a landscape both strangely familiar and yet utterly new: the “simple meadow of the heart. In the jubilee, a jar of olives, the poet’s vision is rooted firmly in ordinary life: cashmere and cleavage, the “mobile home” of our flesh.

For certain you’ll go to church, but by way of “frog song, ” his father’s “instant coffee, ” and in the sober burial of the prodigal “out back beneath the oaks. One gets a sense of reading the marrow of a man and not merely his words. His gentle, laced liberally with a lifetime of scripture, winsome poems, offer his readers a refreshing glimpse into all things God—and good.

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Love Big, Be Well: Letters to a Small-Town Church

When granby's pastoral search committee and jonas connect through handwritten letters passed back and forth, something sparks between them—something so real and refreshing that even after Jonas and his family move to Granby, he continues the regular practice of writing letters to his congregation. Spanning seven years of his ministry at Granby Presbyterian, Jonas's letters ruminate on everything from fly-fishing to the Nicene Creed.

Jonas mcann is a weary pastor without a congregation, trapped in a dead-end insurance job. Readers will discover what it means for a pastor and a church to do the slow work of ministry in community—anchored by a common place and buoyed by a life of faith that is meaningful, rooted, and true. Granby presbyterian is a weary congregation without a pastor, overwhelmed by the prospect of finding someone who actually wants to be a pastor—not a manager, coach, or CEO.

They reveal the earthy spirituality woven into the joys and sorrows of the people of Granby, the community of the church, and Jonas's own unfolding story.

Know When to Hold 'Em: The High Stakes Game of Fatherhood

Blase moves into new territory to invite fathers and parents to look at t. Far from the conventional parenting book, Know When to Hold 'Em will encourage readers as they see parenting and fatherhood through a new lens--that of adventurer, risk-taker.

Glorious Weakness: Discovering God in All We Lack

There were times when it felt as if God had abandoned her. These are healing pages for hurting hearts, and ones I will return to again and again. The vulnerability and beauty found in these pages will leave you breathless, heartbreak, as Alia wisely leads the weary on journey into God's goodness and grace, even in the midst of our deepest weakness, and loss.

What she didn't realize then was that God was always there, calling her to abandon herself. In this deeply personal exploration of what it means to be "poor in spirit, " Joy challenges our cultural proclivity to "pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. She calls on readers to embrace true vulnerability and authenticity with God and with one another, showing how weakness does not disqualify us from inclusion in the kingdom of God--instead, it is our very invitation to enter in.

Anyone who has struggled with feeling inadequate, disillusioned, or just too broken will find hope. This message is an antidote to despair, helping readers reclaim the ways God is good, even when life is anything but. Ann voskamp, alia joy came face to face with weakness, NYTimes bestselling author of The Broken Way and One Thousand GiftsAs a girl, poverty, and loss in ways that made her doubt God was good.

Her exquisite words are a tender touch that resurrect us in our brokenness to the knowledge that we are deeply seen -- and even in our weakness, there can be life-giving glory and reviving grace.

Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas

To eugene peterson’s the message Bible translation, John Blase adds his own storytelling voice, exploring the familiar events from multiple first-person viewpoints. What emerges is the intimate story of unlikely people—a frightened teenaged girl, a worried carpenter, a collection of senior citizens, a disillusioned young shepherd—meeting up with the divine as they bumble and stumble toward the realization that the little one just born is the One.

This retold story of word made flesh invites readers to react appropriately—with eyes opened wide in wonder, jaws dropped in amazement, and hearts rejoicing. The beautiful design and amanda jolman’s lively line drawings make this book a fitting gift as well as a Christmas tradition that families will treasure for years to come.

This bold retelling of luke 1-2, based on Eugene Peterson’s Message translation, reads like a novel and invites readers to experience the Nativity with fresh wonder.

Two Funerals, Then Easter

If you do, you're likely to hear the echoes of your own soul, but also the echoes of the God who made you. Scott sauls, pastor and author of Irresistible Faith "The world doesn't need any more pretentious or self-absorbed words. We need words of beauty and grace, grit and hope. And here, we have it. Winn collier, author of Holy Curiosity and Love Big.

They are portraits of feeling and place and people and God - the stuff of real, true life. Barnabas piper, but slowly, over years if necessary, podcaster and author of The Curious Christian "These poems should be read in order, or all at once if at all possible. Either way, though, they should be read. Ordinary magic.

Mourn, and resolve with the poet: beauty comes from ashes, laugh, even ashes like these. Lore ferguson wilbert, author at Sayable"I recommend that you pick up Two Funerals, Then Easter and read it carefully and slowly. Be Well. Rachel beckons you into the heaviness of grief and the relentlessness of hope in the way only a great poet can.

Jon minnema, Fathom Magazine. They're beautifully crafted and beautifully true, as the best poetry should be. We need words that make us more human, that rouse our faith.

On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books

The book includes end-of-chapter reflection questions geared toward book club discussions, features original artwork throughout, and includes a foreword from Leland Ryken. It is not just what one reads but how one reads that cultivates virtue. In examining works by these authors and more, temperance, humility, Prior shows why virtues such as prudence, and patience are still necessary for human flourishing and civil society.

In reintroducing ancient virtues that are as relevant and essential today as ever, Prior draws on the best classical and Christian thinkers, Aquinas, including Aristotle, and Augustine. And learning to judge wisely a character in a book, in turn, forms the reader's own character. Acclaimed author karen swallow prior takes readers on a guided tour through works of great literature both ancient and modern, exploring twelve virtues that philosophers and theologians throughout history have identified as most essential for good character and the good life.

Reading good literature well requires one to practice numerous virtues, such as patience, diligence, and prudence. Publishers weekly starred reviewa Best Book of 2018 in Religion, Publishers WeeklyReading great literature well has the power to cultivate virtue. Great literature increases knowledge of and desire for the good life by showing readers what virtue looks like and where vice leads.

Covering authors from henry fielding to Cormac McCarthy, Jane Austen to George Saunders, and Flannery O'Connor to F. Scott fitzgerald, literature, helping readers learn to love life, Prior explores some of the most compelling universal themes found in the pages of classic books, and God through their encounters with great writing.

The Middle Matters: Why That ExtraOrdinary Life Looks Really Good on You

The best-selling author of never unfriended opens up about midlife and what it feels like to have outgrown those teenage jeans—but finally grown into the shape of our souls. I want to give Lisa-Jo’s book a standing ovation. Aarti sequeira, can no longer recognize the tween celebrities on the magazines at checkout, chef and TV personality Do you ever wonder how you woke up one day with all the responsibilities of a grown-up who secretly enjoys buying groceries in bulk, but is still surprised when a Starbucks barista calls you “ma’am”—because your inside self is frozen in time to about twenty years ago? So does Lisa-Jo Baker.

In these intimate reflections on midlife, lisa-Jo invites us to get a good look at our middles and gives us permission to embrace them—beyond what the media, the mirror, or the magazines say. Through gutsy, beautiful storytelling, parenting, she admits out loud what most of us are thinking about marriage, the bathroom scale, and how badly we all want to buy those matching Magnolia Market mugs.

Her delicious stories come from not being afraid of who she is, marriage, kids, doubt, failure, faith, wonder, because Lisa-Jo knows that the middle might be the best part of the love story of life, and the muffin top—and that these are all good things. She’s not asking you to seize the day, just to make sure you actually see it for all its wildly ordinary glory.

Welcome to the middle!praise for the middle matters“what a thought-provoking collection of reflections and wisdom! Through personal stories about love, scary, Lisa-Jo invites us to take a long look inside our own mind’s secret nooks and crannies, loss, which aren’t nearly as dark, and life in the middle, or ordinary as we might think.

Layla palmer, the lettered cottage blog“With captivating wit, hard-won wisdom, and breathtaking honesty, Lisa-Jo has written a love letter to the delicious middle. Mandy arioto, president and ceo of mops international and author of Have More Fun“With Lisa-Jo’s guts as our unfettered guide, may we finally learn the sumptuous truth of our years: that a grilled cheese sandwich without the middle is just toast.

Irresistible Faith: Becoming the Kind of Christian the World Can't Resist

Irresistible faith is a blueprint for pursuing this vision in our current moment, of redeemed individuals and a renewed community working for a restored world. Gabe and rebekah Lyons, authors and founders of Q . Over time their movement would become irresistible to every nation, tribe, and tongue. This is a way of being that gives a tired, cynical world good reason to pause and reconsider Christianity--and to start wishing it was true.

I miss the kind of church Scott describes in this book, and I don’t think I am alone. Donald miller, author of blue like jazz and Building a StoryBrand"An important call to resist the urge to lobby and position ourselves, but rather to be driven by gospel-powered love. Raechel myers, founder and ceo of she Reads Truth "An antidote to much that is wrong with our Western, American version of Christianity.

I love everything that Scott Sauls writes. Christine cainewhat if christians became the best advertisement for Jesus?Jesus said his followers would be a light to the world and a city on a hill--a warmly inviting, neighbor-loving, grace- and truth-filled destination for all. He envisioned his followers as life-giving neighbors, bosses, and friends, employees, the kind of people who return insults with kindness and persecution with prayers.

Rooted in biblical convictions, empathy, they would extend love, and care to one another as well as to those who don't share their beliefs.

Every Moment Holy

Beautiful Leather-bound Hardcover. Over 100 liturgies for daily life including liturgies for meals -beautiful leather-bound hardcover -over 20 illustrations by Ned Bustard -silk bookmark -gilded edges Over 100 liturgies for Daily Life. Every moment holy is a book of liturgies for the ordinary events of daily life--liturgies such as "A Liturgy for Feasting with Friends" or "A Liturgy for Laundering" or "A Liturgy for the First Hearthfire of the Season.

These are ways of reminding us that our lives are shot through with sacred purpose even when, especially when, we are too busy or too caught up in our busyness to notice. Silk Bookmark. Gilded Edges.

As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God

Waterbrook. Beautiful Leather-bound Hardcover. As kingfishers catch fire offers a never-before-published collection of these teachings to anyone longing for a richer, truer spirituality. Peterson’s strikingly beautiful prose and deeply grounded insights usher us into a new understanding of how to live out the good news of the Word made flesh.

This is one man’s compelling quest to discover not only how to be a pastor but how to be a human being. Over 100 liturgies for Daily Life. Nothing captures the biblical foundation for this journey better than Peterson’s teachings over his twenty-nine years as a pastor. Gilded Edges. Living out the word made flesh “Sixty years ago I found myself distracted, ” Eugene Peterson wrote.

A chasm had developed between the way I was preaching from the pulpit and my deepest convictions on what it meant to be a pastor. And so began peterson’s journey to live and teach a life of congruence—congruence between preaching and living, between what we do and the way we do it, between what is written in Scripture and how we live out that truth.

Silk Bookmark.